Virginia Brooks

Brooks, pictured in 1909 or 1910.
A photograph of Brooks published in a 1913 brochure.

Virginia Brooks (January 11, 1886 – June 15, 1929) was an American writer and feminist. She was known for her efforts to reduce corruption and prostitution in Calumet City, Illinois (then called "West Hammond") and was nicknamed "Joan of Arc of West Hammond." She was also the author of several books, among them My Battles with Vice (1915)[1] and Little Lost Sister (1914).[2]

Biography

Brooks was born in Chicago. She was the daughter of Oliver Brooks, a realtor who was responsible for organizing the West Hammond syndicate,[3] and inherited real estate from him.[4]

During one election in West Hammond, Brooks threatened to establish a rival town if the reform ticket lost. She had acquired land nearby and had pledges signed by the women from 1000 West Hammond families who would move to the new town if the previous administration was reelected.[5]

Brooks married Charles Washburne, a Chicago reporter. The couple had a son but divorced in 1917.[5]

She operated a range in Wyoming for a number of years and later died in Portland, Oregon in 1929.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Virginia Brooks (1915-01-01). My Battles with Vice. Macaulay Co.
  2. ↑ Virginia Brooks (1914-01-01). Little Lost Sister. Gazzolo and Ricksen.
  3. ↑ Bigott, Joseph (2001). From Cottage to Bungalow: Houses and the Working Class in Metropolitan Chicago, 1869-1929. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226048758.
  4. ↑ "Virginia Brooks: 20th century Joan of Arc :: Traveling Culture - Circuit Chautauqua in the Twentieth Century". digital.lib.uiowa.edu. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  5. 1 2 3 "Virginia Brooks crusader against crime". Chicago Tribune. March 22, 1953.


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