 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 15, 1864 Haverhill, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | May 20, 1921 (aged 56) Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1883–1886 | Harvard |
| Rowing | |
| 1883–1886 | Harvard |
| Position(s) | Center (football) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1894 | Harvard |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 11–2 |
William Allen Brooks Jr.[1] (August 15, 1864 – May 20, 1921) was an American surgeon, college football player, coach, referee, and rower. He played football and participated in rowing at Harvard and afterwards was a prominent surgeon as well as official, additionally serving one year as the Harvard football coach.
A native of Haverhill, Massachusetts, Brooks graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy. He afterwards attended Harvard College from 1883 to 1886, playing football and being a member of their rowing team. He was team captain in football as a senior, and led them to a 12–2 record. Following his graduation from the college, Brooks enrolled at the Harvard Medical School, at which he received a Doctor of Medicine in 1891. In the next years, he received positions at several hospitals as a surgeon and became a faculty member of Harvard. During this time, he was also a highly-respected sports official and served one season as Harvard's head football coach, compiling an 11–2 record.
By the early 1900s, Brooks had become one of the most prominent surgeons in the area, serving for a time as the surgeon-in-chief at St. Elizabeth's Hospital and establishing his own hospital for appendicitis in 1912. Around that time, he also became a faculty member of the Tufts University School of Medicine and made several medical inventions. Brooks had built in 1915 a hospital bearing his name in Brookline, Massachusetts. During World War I, he served as the chief surgeon Massachusetts State Guard, the acting surgeon general of the state, and a medical director for the United States Shipping Board. He served as an important figure in the relief efforts of the Halifax Explosion in 1917.
When the Spanish flu pandemic began in 1918, Brooks devoted much time towards combating the virus and had established an emergency tent hospital in Brookline. His research showed that sunshine and fresh air were the best treatments for the disease, and his tent hospital had significantly lower death rates than most others, despite taking in most of the worst cases. He later had another hospital built the following year, making a permanent facility to apply the same treatment as the tent hospital. Brooks continued his practice until his death from heart failure in May 1921.
- ^ "Officers Of The Class Of 1887". The Harvard Advocate. Vol. 41, 42. Harvard University. 1887. p. 30.