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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION   1547

MINUTES OF THE MAY 19, 1961 MEETING

The Secretary stated that the minutes of the meeting held May 19, 1961 had been mailed to the members of the Board. On motion by Dr. Brown, seconded by Senator Saltonstall, and carried it was

VOTED that the Board of Regents approves the minutes of the meeting of May 19, 1961, as submitted to the members by mail.

RESOLUTIONS ON DEATH OF REGENT OVERTON BROOKS

The Secretary offered the following resolutions for the consideration of the Board:

RESOLVED: That inasmuch as the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution has learned with deep sorrow of the sudden death on September 16, 1961, of Honorable Overton Brooks, Regent of the Institution since February 3, 1955:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That in the death of Mr. Brooks the country has lost one of its outstanding public servants and the Smithsonian Institution a distinguished Board member.

Mr. Brooks was born on December 21, 1897 in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. He received an LL.B. degree with honors in 1923 from the Law School of Louisiana State University. In 1933 he married Mollie Meriweather. He had one daughter, Laura Anne.

For 25 years he served his country, his state, and his constituency of the 4th Congressional District of Louisiana. Mr. Brooks was elected to the 75th Congress, and was re-elected to the twelve succeeding Congresses. In the Congress, he had been the ranking member of the Committee on Armed Services, was a member of the Committee on Government Operations, and was made Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics in 1959, and was reappointed to this chairmanship in 1961, where his indefatigable leadership was clearly demarcated. The decisions of this committee will have a far-reaching effect and advantage for the country in space exploration. In addition to his work on space programs Mr. Brooks was for five years President of the National Rivers and Harbors Congress, and at the time of his death was its Chairman.

Mr. Brooks as a Regent was especially interested in matters concerning the expansion programs of the National Air Museum and the Astrophysical Observatory of the Smithsonian Institution, but was always ready to assist in any matter involving the other Bureaus of the Institution. He was a member of the Joint Committee on Construction of a Building for Museum of History and Technology for the Smithsonian Institution.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That these candidates be entered in the minutes of the Board; That a copy be sent to Mrs. Brooks with an expression of the personal sense of loss felt by the Regents at the death of Mr. Brooks.

Transcription Notes:
changed distinguished to outstanding in FURTHER RESOLVED paragraph removed double 'on'