Narrow Your Results

Go Reset

Refine Your Results

Filter Your Results

Smithsonian Secretaries Information

Close Browse records and papers of the Smithsonian Secretaries, from 1846 until today. Pre-set filters help narrow searches by individuals who have held that office.

Expeditions Information

Close Browse records and papers documenting scientific and collecting expeditions either affiliated with the Smithsonian, or with which Smithsonian researchers participated. Pre-set filters help narrow searches by geographic regions predominantly represented in expedition records.

Professional Societies Information

Close Browse records of professional societies closely associated with the Smithsonian, that focus on areas of scientific research and museum studies. Pre-set filters help narrow searches by major topics and disciplines.

SIA RU007304, Brooks, Robert Angus 1920-, Robert Angus Brooks Papers, 1926-1976

Print Share Submit a reference request about this item
* required
Please succinctly provide us with any information pertinent to your inquiry. If you are writing to us about a research request, provide as much detail as possible about the collections in which you are interested (including collection numbers, box numbers, and folder titles).
(if known)
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Summary

Creator:
Brooks, Robert Angus 1920-
Title:
Robert Angus Brooks Papers, 1926-1976
Dates:
1926, 1926-1976
Notes:
Robert Angus Brooks (1920-1976) was a scholar of classical philology and an administrator. He was educated at Harvard (A.B., 1940, A.M., 1941, Ph.D., 1949) and served in the Army Air Force, 1942-1946, and taught classics at Harvard until 1951. He was Vice-President, 1951-1965, and President, 1969-1971, of Harbridge House, a Boston consulting firm, and Assistant Secretary of the Army, 1965-1969. He joined the Smithsonian as Deputy Under Secretary in 1971. He became Assistant Secretary in 1972 and Under Secretary in 1973
Summary:
These papers consist primarily of notes and reports relating to Brooks's education and military service. Coverage of most of his career -- years at Harbridge House, the Pentagon, and the Smithsonian -- is spare. Also included are papers concerning professional memberships, speeches, articles, poetry, resumes, and obituaries. Correspondence makes up a small part of the collection
Restrictions:
Use of this record unit requires prior arrangement with the Archives staff
Topic:
Museums--Administration
Subjects:
Brooks, Robert Angus 1920-, Harbridge House, United States Army
Form/Genre:
Collection descriptions, Mixed archival materials
Local Number:
SIA RU007304

Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 7304

Brooks, Robert Angus,1920-

Robert Angus Brooks Papers, 1926-1976

Repository: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator: Brooks, Robert Angus,1920-
Title: Robert Angus Brooks Papers
Dates: 1926-1976
Quantity: 1.7 linear meters.
Collection: Record Unit 7304
Language of Materials: English

Historical Note

Robert Angus Brooks (1920-1976) was born in Calcutta, India, to American parents. He attended preparatory school in Scotland at Dalhousie Castle school (1928-1934), and later at Roxbury Latin School in Massachusetts (1934-1936). He received degrees in classical philology from Harvard--B.A., 1940, M.A., 1941, Ph.D., 1949. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Air Force, and was promoted to Captain in 1945. He married Jane S. Kochmann in 1943.

After the war he was a Junior Fellow at Harvard, and later Instructor of Classics (1949-1951). From 1951 to 1965 he worked in the Boston consulting firm, Harbridge House, Inc. In 1965 he was appointed by Lyndon Johnson as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Logistics, and served there until 1969, when he rejoined Harbridge House as its President. In 1971 he accepted the position as Under Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution where he remained until his death in 1976.

Top of Page

Descriptive Entry

This collection documents the different stages in Robert Brooks’s education and career. Most of the material is professional in nature; there are few intimately personal letters or recordings. Much of the collection consists of business correspondence, notes, and financial records, as well as personal memorabilia, poetry and poetry translations.

Brooks’s correspondence can also be found in the records of the Office of the Under Secretary, Record Unit 137. The papers of Robert A. Brooks at the Smithsonian Institution Archives can be supplemented by a collection of papers relating to his term as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Logistics located at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, in Austin, Texas.

Top of Page

This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.

Name

Subject

Top of Page

Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7304, Brooks, Robert Angus,1920-, Robert Angus Brooks Papers

Top of Page

Container List

Series 1

PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1948-1976, AND UNDATED. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.

This series consists primarily of incoming personal correspondence. Included are letters from Robert A. Brooks’s family, McGeorge Bundy, Army Secretary Stanley R. Resor, Smithsonian Secretary S. Dillon Ripley, and General W. C. Westmoreland. The correspondence is fairly ephemeral. Many of the letters express admiration for Brooks’s poetry or concern during his illness.

Box 1

Folder 1 A, general

Box 1 of 12

Folder 2 B, general

Box 1 of 12

Folder 3 Baker, Charles D., 1968, 1976

Box 1 of 12

Folder 4 Becker, Eugene M., 1969, 1971, Assistant Secretary of the Army

Box 1 of 12

Folder 5 Brooks, Alison, 1975

Box 1 of 12

Folder 6 Brooks, Camilla, undated

Box 1 of 12

Folder 7 Brooks, Mabel, 1975, undated

Box 1 of 12

Folder 8 Brooks, Milton, 1960-1961

Box 1 of 12

Folder 9 Brooks, Robert A. and Jane, Christmas letter, 1969

Box 1 of 12

Folder 10 Brooks, Roger, undated

Box 1 of 12

Folder 11 Bundy, McGeorge, 1969

Box 1 of 12

Folder 12 C-D, general

Box 1 of 12

Folder 13 Cook, Coleman P., 1965, 1969

Box 1 of 12

Folder 14 F-H, general

Box 1 of 12

Folder 15 K, general

Box 1 of 12

Folder 16 Keller, John W., M.D., 1970. Concerns health of Robert A. Brooks.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 17 Kennedy, George, 1969-1973

Box 1 of 12

Folder 18 L, general

Box 1 of 12

Folder 19 M, general

Box 1 of 12

Folder 20 McNamara, Margaret (Mrs. Robert S.), undated

Box 1 of 12

Folder 21 P-R, general

Box 1 of 12

Folder 22 Resor, Stanley R., 1970

Box 1 of 12

Folder 23 Ripley, S. Dillon, 1976. Written just before Brooks’s death.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 24 S, general

Box 1 of 12

Folder 25 Sanyour, Michael, 1969-1970

Box 1 of 12

Folder 26 T-Z, general

Box 1 of 12

Folder 27 Westmoreland, General W. C., 1969

Box 1 of 12

Folder 28 Unidentified correspondence, 1965-1976, undated

Box 1 of 12

Series 2

DALHOUSIE CASTLE SCHOOL, 1926-1935, 1960.

This series includes correspondence between Dalhousie and Robert Brooks’s parents, Milton and Mabel; two letters from Robert's father concerning his conduct and responsibilities as a young man; receipts and bills; Brooks’s grades and papers; several editions of the school publication, the Dalhousie Chronicle; and a brief diary kept by Brooks during the spring 1934 school semester.

Box 1

Folder 29 Dalhousie correspondence with Milton and Mabel Brooks, 1929-1935, 1960

Box 1 of 12

Folder 30 Correspondence, Milton Brooks to Robert A. Brooks, 1926-1933

Box 1 of 12

Folder 31 Dalhousie receipts and bills, 1928-1935, and undated

Box 1 of 12

Folder 32 Dalhousie school papers and reports, 1928-1934

Box 1 of 12

Folder 33 Dalhousie Chronicle, 1934-1935

Box 1 of 12

Folder 34 Robert A. Brooks diary, 1934, and miscellany

Box 1 of 12

Series 3

ROXBURY LATIN SCHOOL, 1933-1944.

This series consists of grade reports, letters to Milton Brooks concerning Robert's performance, newspaper clippings, programs, and other memorabilia. Also included are several editions of the Roxbury Latin School Tripod.

Box 2

Folder 1 Roxbury Latin School grades, papers and memorabilia, 1933-1937, 1944, and undated

Box 2 of 12

Folder 2 Roxbury Latin School Tripod, 1934-1942

Box 2 of 12

Series 4

HARVARD UNIVERSITY, 1936-1976.

This series documents Robert A. Brooks’s years in attendance and in association with Harvard. Included are papers relating to Brooks’s admission, general guides and reports for Harvard students, and Brooks’s grades and awards while at Harvard. Brooks also kept many of his exams and lecture notes from his classes in Greek, Latin, geography, history, etc., and programs, certificates and diplomas for academic and extracurricular activities, including diplomas for drama and acting. The collection contains records relating to Brooks’s graduate studies and junior fellowship at Harvard; his fellowship with the American Academy in Rome during the 1940s; his employment as a professor of classics, and job opportunities refused from other universities in the late 1940s and early 1950s; his place on the Harvard Board of Overseers Committee to Visit the Department of Astronomy in the 1970s; and his doctoral thesis, "Ennius and Roman Tragedy."

Box 2

Folder 3 Harvard admission papers and exam, 1936

Box 2 of 12

Folder 4 Harvard registers, guides and reports, 1936-1943

Box 2 of 12

Folder 5 Harvard financial records, 1936-1943

Box 2 of 12

Folder 6 Harvard grade reports and awards, 1937-1940

Box 2 of 12

Folder 7 Robert A. Brooks graded papers, Harvard, 1936-1940

Box 2 of 12

Folder 8 Robert A. Brooks exams and papers, Harvard Greek

Box 2 of 12

Box 3

Folder 1 Robert A. Brooks exams and papers, Harvard French, history and Latin

Box 3 of 12

Folder 2 Harvard examination papers and Graduate Record Exam

Box 3 of 12

Folder 3 Harvard geography lecture notes

Box 3 of 12

Folder 4 Harvard Greek lecture notes

Box 3 of 12

Folder 5 Harvard Greek lecture notes and papers

Box 3 of 12

Folder 6 Harvard Greek lecture notebook

Box 3 of 12

Box 4

Folder 1 Harvard history lecture notebook

Box 4 of 12

Folder 2 Harvard Latin lecture notes

Box 4 of 12

Folder 3 Harvard Latin lecture notebook

Box 4 of 12

Folder 4 Harvard philosophy lecture notes

Box 4 of 12

Folder 5 Harvard lecture notes, miscellaneous

Box 4 of 12

Box 5

Folder 1 Harvard programs, certificates, memorabilia

Box 5 of 12

Folder 2 American Academy in Rome, application for scholarship and correspondence, 1940-1944, 1947, 1972, 1975

Box 5 of 12

Folder 3 Harvard graduate school and employment, 1940-1951

Box 5 of 12

Folder 4 University employment offers, 1948-1958

Box 5 of 12

Folder 5 Harvard Board of Overseers, Committee to Visit the Department of Astronomy, 1973-1976

Box 5 of 12

Folder 6 Harvard doctoral thesis, 1949

Box 5 of 12

Series 5

PAPERS RELATING TO MILITARY SERVICE, 1942-1956.

This series outlines Robert A. Brooks’s service in the Army Air Force. It contains several training manuals, handbooks, and intelligence school notes kept by Brooks. Most of the documents included are official papers and special orders relating to Brooks’s duties and personal effects, and follow his career during the war, and in the Reserve Corps after the war. The collection also contains newspaper clippings, souvenir publications, and other memorabilia, including certificates of gratitude (one from President Harry Truman), an officer's candidate school year book, and a farewell publication for the Seventh Air Force.

Box 6

Folder 1 Army training manuals

Box 6 of 12

Folder 2 Army Air Force Intelligence School handbooks and manuals

Box 6 of 12

Folder 3 Army Air Force Intelligence School notes, 1943

Box 6 of 12

Folder 4 Air intelligence photographs

Box 6 of 12

Box 7

Folder 1 Maps, Pacific Theater of Operations

Box 7 of 12

Folder 2 Photo intelligence manuals

Box 7 of 12

Folder 3 Photo intelligence report

Box 7 of 12

Folder 4 Medical papers

Box 7 of 12

Folder 5 Memorandum receipts

Box 7 of 12

Folder 6 Pay vouchers and allotments of pay, 1943-1945

Box 7 of 12

Folder 7 Personal and legal affairs, 1943-1946, 1956

Box 7 of 12

Folder 8 Special orders--leave

Box 7 of 12

Folder 9 Special orders--promotion

Box 7 of 12

Folder 10 Special orders--transfers

Box 7 of 12

Folder 11 Discharge and separation papers

Box 7 of 12

Folder 12 Letters, commendations, certificates and diplomas

Box 7 of 12

Folder 13 Air Force Officers' Reserve Corps, 1946-1953, undated

Box 7 of 12

Box 8

Folder 1 Souvenir war publications

Box 8 of 12

Folder 2 Newspaper clippings

Box 8 of 12

Folder 3 Air Force memorabilia

Box 8 of 12

Folder 4 Officer candidate school yearbook

Box 8 of 12

Series 6

HARBRIDGE HOUSE, INC., 1951-1975.

This series documents Robert A. Brooks’s involvement as an employee and a stockholder in Harbridge House, Inc. Records in this collection include business letters, interoffice memoranda, board of directors' meeting agendas and notes, and stockholders' reports. Also included are Brooks’s personal holdings and transactions with the company, memorabilia, and awards received.

Box 8

Folder 5 Harbridge House, Inc. Includes letters, interoffice memoranda, board of directors meetings and notes, 1962, 1969-1972.

Box 8 of 12

Folder 6 Harbridge House profit sharing trust

Box 8 of 12

Folder 7 Harbridge House, Inc. Includes general financial and miscellaneous articles.

Box 8 of 12

Box 9

Folder 1 Harbridge House, Inc. Includes stockholders' reports, 1970-1974.

Box 9 of 12

Folder 2 Harbridge House personal stock, 1967-1975

Box 9 of 12

Folder 3 Harbridge House, Inc. Includes personal and financial records, 1970-1972, 1975 and undated

Box 9 of 12

Folder 4 Harbridge House, Inc. Includes newspaper clippings and awards and memorabilia.

Box 9 of 12

Series 7

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY FOR INSTALLATIONS AND LOGISTICS, 1965-1971.

This series consists of papers relating to Robert A. Brooks’s service as Assistant Secretary of the Army. Several items of special interest are contained in the Smithsonian collection: the White House press release announcing Brooks’s appointment; the invitation and procedures for Robert F. Kennedy's graveside memorial services; itineraries for Brooks’s official visits to Southeast Asia, Hawaii, and the West Coast; Brooks’s letter of resignation; a reflective letter written by Brooks on the mistakes made in Vietnam and the United States during his term in office; clippings and articles saved by Brooks; and an exit questionnaire about his service in the Johnson administration.

Box 9

Folder 5 Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Logistics, 1965-1968 and undated

Box 9 of 12

Folder 6 Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Logistics, 1969, 1971

Box 9 of 12

Folder 7 Hearings before the special subcommittee on the M-16 rifle program, 1967

Box 9 of 12

Folder 8 Newspaper clippings and articles, 1965-1970, and undated

Box 9 of 12

Folder 9 Memorabilia, programs and photographs as Assistant Secretary of the Army, 1965-1970, and undated. See also description of oversize material (listed after box 13) for related items.

Box 9 of 12

Box 10

Folder 1 Evaluation of term as presidential appointee

Box 10 of 12

Folder 2 Lyndon Baines Johnson Library contribution

Box 10 of 12

Series 8

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1971-1976.

This series consists primarily of incoming and outgoing records, letters and memoranda, including proposals for a museum of man, and a zoo restaurant. Also included are Brooks’s editing and publishing notes, and other memorabilia.

Box 10

Folder 3 Smithsonian Institution reports, letters and memoranda, 1972-1975, and undated

Box 10 of 12

Folder 4 Smithsonian Institution reports, letters and memoranda, 1976

Box 10 of 12

Folder 5 Smithsonian Institution editing and publication notes

Box 10 of 12

Folder 6 Smithsonian Institution articles, clippings and programs

Box 10 of 12

Series 9

MEMBERSHIPS.

This series concerns Robert A. Brooks’s membership in both political committees and informal clubs. Brooks served on President Nixon's Advisory Council for Minority Business Enterprise from 1969 to 1971. These papers consist of memoranda and publications relating to the committee's activities and findings. Brooks also served as a consultant for the Commission on Government Procurement, and included in his papers is the 1972 Congressional report from the commission. Other papers concern the Council for a Livable World, the Northeast Electronics Research and Engineering Meeting of 1969, the Washington, D.C., Cosmos Club, the Harvard Club of Boston, the American Philological Association, the Saint Andrews Society of Washington, D.C., and the Savin Hill Yacht Club.

Box 10

Folder 7 Memberships--Advisory Council for Minority Enterprise, 1969-1971

Box 10 of 12

Folder 8 Memberships--Commission on Government Procurement

Box 10 of 12

Folder 9 Memberships--Cosmos Club

Box 10 of 12

Folder 10 Memberships--Council for a Livable World

Box 10 of 12

Folder 11 Memberships--Harvard Club of Boston

Box 10 of 12

Folder 12 Memberships--Northeast Electronics Research and Engineering Meeting, 1969

Box 10 of 12

Folder 13 Memberships--miscellaneous

Box 10 of 12

Series 10

DRAMA PRODUCTIONS, ARTICLES, SPEECHES, AND POETRY.

This series contains notes, letters and programs relating to speeches, articles, plays and performances given, or participated in, by Robert A. Brooks. Included are staging plans for a Christmas play directed by Brooks, and articles and speeches on new company survival and the military-industrial complex. A significant part of this collection contains poetry written and translated by Brooks. Of special interest are an essay on Virgil, translations of Erich Kastner, and a poem probably written shortly before his death.

Box 10

Folder 14 Productions and plays participated in and directed by Robert A. Brooks

Box 10 of 12

Box 11

Folder 1 Articles and speeches, copies, notes and letters

Box 11 of 12

Folder 2 Virgil: A Collection of Critical Essays, containing R.A. Brooks essay

Box 11 of 12

Folder 3 Poetry by Robert A. Brooks

Box 11 of 12

Folder 4 Unedited collection of poems by Robert A. Brooks

Box 11 of 12

Folder 5 Reviews of Robert A. Brooks poetry and performances

Box 11 of 12

Folder 6 Robert A. Brooks poetry translations

Box 11 of 12

Folder 7 Robert A. Brooks translations of Erich Kastner poetry

Box 11 of 12

Folder 8 Poetry Society of Georgia

Box 11 of 12

Folder 9 Robert A. Brooks notes on Byron

Box 11 of 12

Series 11

MISCELLANY.

This series contains various items concerning Robert A. Brooks’s finances and travels. Of note are Brooks’s resumes and a "Who's Who" biography, his employment inquiries and refusals before he accepted the Smithsonian position, his obituaries and several memorial tributes, and papers from his father's company in India, circa 1933.

Box 11

Folder 10 Personal and financial records, 1953, 1966-1970, 1974

Box 11 of 12

Box 12

Folder 1 Automobile ownership, maintenance papers and receipts

Box 12 of 12

Folder 2 Travel papers and receipts

Box 12 of 12

Folder 3 Skisearch, Inc.

Box 12 of 12

Folder 4 The Brooks School

Box 12 of 12

Folder 5 Robert A. Brooks resume and recommendations, and Standard Form 171

Box 12 of 12

Folder 6 Employment searches and refusals, 1970-1971

Box 12 of 12

Folder 7 Independent council - Tufts-New England Medical Center, 1971

Box 12 of 12

Folder 8 Obituaries and memorials

Box 12 of 12

Folder 9 Milton Brooks letters of recommendation and personnel affairs, The Angus Company, Ltd., Calcutta, 1933

Box 12 of 12

Folder 10 Stamp collection

Box 12 of 12

Folder 11 Miscellaneous clippings, notes, memorabilia

Box 12 of 12
Oversize

Portrait of Robert A. Brooks

Oversize

Certificate of Appointment to Advisory Council for Minority Enterprise

Oversize

Diploma from American Society of Military Engineers honoring Robert A. Brooks, 1967

Oversize

Group photos of Army Policy Board, 1966-1968. Subjects identified include Robert A. Brooks.

Oversize

Top of Page

Using the Archives' Collections

The Smithsonian Institution Archives welcomes personal and educational use of its collections unless otherwise noted. Please cite the Smithsonian Institution Archives as the source of the content, and when possible, link to the Smithsonian Archives website (www.siarchives.si.edu). Please let us know how you are using our collections for your projects. For information on commercial licensing or other uses, visit Rights and Reproductions. More information available within the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use policy.