Norfolk State University Lyman Beecher Brooks Library

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Dr. Lyman Beecher Brooks (May 27, 1910 - April 20, 1984) was the first President of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia. Lyman Brooks was born on May 27, 1910, to John Robert Brooks, a former slave and Union Navy veteran, who made a living as a farmer, waterman, and private music teacher, and Mary Anna Burrell, a school teacher and graduate of Hartshorne Memorial College, now Virginia Union University. In 1938, Lyman Beecher Brooks became Director of the Norfolk Unit of Virginia Union University (now Norfolk State University). During his thirty-seven year career as the director, provost and president of the College from 1938-1975, he helped built the school from a three-classroom junior college with five teachers to an eighteen building campus with a faculty and staff of 375 and 6,300 students. Dr. Brooks leadership helped the college achieve numerous milestones.