Description  

William Sampson Brooks High School is located on the south side of Dares Beach Road (Maryland Route 402) northeast of Prince Frederick, Calvert County, Maryland. The original portion of the building was constructed in 1938, located at the east end and an addition was added in the early 1950’s.
Brooks High School was dedicated on November 11, 1939 as Calvert County’s only African American high school and is representative of the final period of segregated public education in Calvert County.

The Brooks building served as an African American high school until the gradual integration of Calvert County’s schools was completed in 1966. Beginning in the fall of that year, all sixth-grade students in Calvert County attended the school which was renamed Brooks Elementary School. Though grade 6 should have been included in junior high, the only two existing junior high schools could not accommodate all the students. When Calvert Elementary was completed in 1974, the students were transferred there. For two years following, Brooks was used as a public school maintenance annex.

Since 1978 the Brooks High School building has served as the administrative offices for the Calvert County Public Schools. A historic roadside marker is in front of the building on Dares Beach Road.

The school was named in memory of William Sampson Brooks, a prominent African American minister, missionary, writer, and lecturer who became a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Brooks was born in Lower Marlboro, Calvert County in 1865 and he attended elementary school in Prince Frederick. He continued his education at Centenary Biblical Institute, now consolidated into Morgan State University. Brooks is credited with establishing the largest African American Episcopal Church, St. Marks AME in New York City, and was an advocate of education.

Additional Resources

https://apps.mht.maryland.gov/Medusa/PDF/Calvert/CT-1263.pdf

Early Schools of Calvert County, Maryland by Mary B. Rockefeller, 2019. Book.