The Reverend Father David Henry Brooks (December 6, 1906 – February 11, 1974), Vicar of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, was a native of Jacksonville, Florida, having lived in Tallahassee for nearly 27 years. He led St. Michael’s for more than a quarter of a century. In this role, he oversaw the church’s progression from a small barracks type structure to the modern brick building that now stands. Earning degrees from Morehouse College and Bishop Payne Divinity School, Fr. Brooks was a persuasive, persistent advocate for equality. He was a leader in the student sit-ins, marches for freedom, voting rights and the bus boycott movement. He also participated in marches supporting migrant and tobacco workers. Fr. Brooks preached routinely about getting involved in the civil rights struggle and was an integration pioneer. He believed that “the real enemies of peace and progress are poverty, disease, ignorance, (and) prejudice. They corrode society and breed unrest and hatred.”
The year of Fr. Brooks’ arrival to St. Michael’s in 1947 was important to the church not because it marked the beginning of continuous ministry, but it was the year that Fr. Brooks came to Tallahassee as Vicar of the church and Episcopal Chaplain at Florida A&M University. Fr. Brooks’ many achievements in his ministry at St. Michael’s are also noteworthy. Significant among these was the construction of a chapel, which was to become the Parish Hall (Parish Canterbury House). Moreover, Fr. Brooks led the church to increased membership and presented scores of classes to the Diocesan Bishop for confirmation. Student members of the church were from all sections of the state, the nation and abroad. Fr. Brooks’ leadership in the community was well known; he was in the forefront of civil rights efforts and was known as a counselor and friend to students, faculty and the Tallahassee community at large. The influence of Father Brooks so impacted the congregation that in April 1995 they rededicated the Parish Hall and named it in his honor, the David Henry Brooks Hall.
