Black History Month: Brooks was leader in Henderson civil rights movement

Editor's note: The Courier & Press and The Gleaner are marking Black History Month with a collection of stories about people, places and events from local Black history.

The Rev. Anthony Brooks Sr. was a groundbreaking civil rights activist in Henderson, Kentucky.

A brilliant orator, Brooks served in the ministry for more than 60 years and was pastor of Seventh Street Baptist Church for 53 years until his passing.

He served as president of both the Henderson and Evansville chapters of the NAACP as well as the vice president of the Kentucky NAACP during the 1960s. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Frankfort and Louisville. Locally, he led sit-ins in a campaign to integrate Henderson restaurants, resulting in his being arrested multiple times.

In 1969, he ran but failed to win election to the Henderson City Commission. He is believed to have been the first African-American to seek office in Henderson since the 1880s.

Brooks earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Evansville and a doctorate in education from Indiana University. While at UE, Anthony Brooks Sr. was the university’s first Black tennis player.

Professionally, Brooks spent many years as an educator with the Evansville Vanderburgh County School Corp., then became one of the EVSC’s first Black administrators.

Brooks died in 2020. He was 85.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Anthony Brooks was leader in Henderson civil rights movement