George Mercer Brooke, Jr.

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George Mercer Brooke, Jr. (October 21, 1914 - June 16, 2006) was Professor Emeritus of History at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI).

[edit] Three Generations at Virginia Military Institute

(1.) John Mercer Brooke educator and inventor who taught at V.M.I. and for whom Maury-Brooke Hall is named. Invented the deep-sea sounding and core sampling device and the Brooke gun.

(2.)George Mercer Brooke. educator at VMI .

(3.)George Mercer Brooke Jr.; educator and author. He wrote, "Ironclads and Big Guns of the Confederacy The Journal and Letters of John Mercer Brooke" (Studies in Maritime History)

Colonel Brooke donated a lot of original correspondence to VMI between Matthew Fontaine Maury and John Mercer Brooke. Both of whom were VMI instructors after the American Civil War.

A biography has been written about George Mercer Brooke Jr., "Brooke, George Mercer, Jr. (1914- ) Contemporary Authors by Gale Reference Team.

George Mercer Brooke Jr. was born in Tokyo, Japan, son of George Mercer Brooke and Isabel Tilton Brooke.

He was educated at the VMI, where he obtained a bachelor's degree, he earned a master's degree from Washington & Lee University, and a Ph.D. degree from the University of North Carolina.

He spent 38 years on the faculty of VMI, and as head of the History Department from 1965 to 1970. He retired in 1980. He was also an author on issues related to the Far East and American diplomatic history. His grandfather, John Mercer Brooke was instrumental in gaining diplomatic relations with the Far East, especially with Japan.

Colonel George Mercer Brooke Jr. was also President of the Stonewall Jackson (Jackson had been an educator at VMI). Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, member and officer of the Rockbridge_County,_Virginia Historical Society, and chairman of the VMI Sesquicentennial Committee.