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Benjy Frances Brooks was the first woman to become a
pediatric surgeon in the state of Texas. In her work at
Texas Children's Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital in
Houston, she conducted research on congenital defects, burn
treatment, spleen reparation, and the prevention of
hepatitis. A foundation set up in her name has advanced the
surgical care of young children in Texas by endowing chairs
at medical colleges, donating special equipment to hospitals
and medical centers, and providing research grants for the
study of pediatric illnesses and diseases.
Benjy Brooks was born in the small north Texas town of
Lewisville in 1918. As she recalled later in life, from the
moment she performed operations on her sister's dolls with
manicure scissors at the age of four, she never wanted to be
anything other than a doctor. In fact, she was so eager to
learn as a child that her mother gave her reading lessons on
the back porch of their farmhouse well before she had
reached school age. After learning to read by age four,
Brooks earned her B.S. degree from the North Texas State
Teacher's College at the age of nineteen. She went on to
earn an M.S. from the same school two years later. After
four years teaching high school science to students hardly
older than herself, Brooks decided to enter the University
of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 1944, where she
received her M.D. degree in 1948. Dr. Brooks rose quickly
through the difficult field of pediatric surgery. She
accepted residencies at the University of Pennsylvania and
the Children's Medical Center in Boston, and went on to
become one of the first women to enter the department of
surgery at Harvard. After spending 1957 in Glasgow,
Scotland, studying pediatric surgery at the Royal Hospital
for Sick Children, Dr. Brooks returned to Boston. She was
not entirely happy there, however, and in 1960 she decided
to return home. At this time there were only two other
pediatric surgeons in Texas, and Brooks became the first
woman of the group.
Dr. Brooks worked in Houston at the Texas Children's
Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital and volunteered as a
teacher at the Baylor College of Medicine. In addition to a
rigorous teaching and surgical schedule, she continued lines
of research started elsewhere concerning congenital defects,
burn treatment, spleen reparation, and the prevention of
hepatitis.
The Benjy Brooks Foundation for Children, created by
the parents of one of her patients, has been credited with
greatly advancing the surgical care of young children in
Texas by endowing chairs at medical colleges, donating
special equipment needed by hospitals and medical centers,
and provining research grants for the study of pediatric
illnesses and diseases.
Dr. Benjy Brooks was a lifelong fan of Texas. In fact,
she credits much of her success to her childhood in the Lone
Star state, with its long history of strong, pioneering
women. In Texas, Brooks noted, "you can go as far as you can
push yourself."
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