Who is Doswell E. Brooks?

Doswell E. Brooks was the Supervisor of Black schools for 34 years in Prince George’s County.He was born in Virginia but raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Hampton Institute to become a teacher. World War I took him to France. After the war, he came to Prince George’s County to supervise 43 schools. A year later, he helped to start the first high school for Black students in Upper Marlboro.

Doswell Brooks helped to buy the first school bus for Black students and worked hard to see that students had new books.

He worked with parents to buy a building for their Parent/Teacher Association (PTA). Here, parents met countywide. He also expressed interest in the town where he lived; and, in 1955, he became Mayor of Fairmount Heights. In 1956, Doswell Brooks was appointed as the first Black member of the Prince George’s County Board of Education.

Doswell E. Brooks served as Supervisor of Colored Schools for Prince George's County beginning in 1922, and, in 1956, became the first African American member of the Board of Education. He also served on the Fairmount Heights town council and was Mayor from 1955 until shortly before his death in 1968.  He is buried at the Baltimore National Cemetery in Baltimore City, Maryland (Brooks, Doswell, b. 05/15/1894, d. 02/19/1968, Plot: L 0 2529, bur. 02/23/1968).