WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
JUANITA LEONE LEAVITT PULSIPHER BROOKS
(JUANITA BROOKS)
(teacher, historian, author)
BIOGRAPHY
Juanita Leone Leavitt was born on January 15, 1898 in Bunkerville, Clark County, Nevada. She was raised in Bunkerville. Her father was Henry Leavitt and her mother was Mary Hafen.She married Ernest Pulsipher on October 10, 1919, just over a year before he died of throat cancer. They had one son together.
Juanita got a bachelor's degree from BYU.
She settled in St. George and became an instructor of English and dean of women at Dixie College, a position she held until 1933. She became the stake Relief Society president, 1933-1939.
While at Dixie, she was able to take a sabbatical to earn a master's degree from Columbia University. She wouldn't normally have had enough senority to get the sabbatical, but it didn't pay much and noone else could afford to take the sabbatical.
Juanita married widower Will Brooks in 1933. He brought four sons to the family and together they added a daughter and three more sons.
She took up historical research and writing. She served on the board of the Utah Historical Society.
Juanita died on August 26, 1989 in St. George. She was buried in Plot B_5_7_4 of the St. George Cemetery.
FAMILY
|
Parents and Siblings:
Dudley Henry Leavitt Mary Hafen Leavitt Orpha Ora Leavitt Juanita Leone Leavitt Charity Leavitt Aura Ola Leavitt Melvin Henry Leavitt Laurel Evan Leavitt Daisy Ina Leavitt Eva Leavitt Francis Hale "Frank" Leavitt |
(4/19/1870-2/2/1944) (married 9/3/1895) (11/5/1877-7/7/1980) (11/23/1896-8/28/1898) (1/15/1898-8/26/1989) (married as shown below) (12/8/1899-9/9/1999) (married Vernon Conrad Rowley) (11/27/1901-5/23/1982) (married Joseph Carl Allen) (3/28/1903-7/14/2000) (married Myrtle G. Wittwer) (12/17/1905-12/25/1987) (married Melvina Durrant) (9/23/1907-4/6/1990) (married Leonard Reber) (2/20/1909-11/13/1987) (married Walter Jarvis Miles) (6/20/1911-6/2/1008) (married Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxxx) |
|
First Husband and Children: Leonard Ernest Pulsipher Leonard Ernest Pulsipher, Jr. |
(2/29/1892-1/8/1921) (married 10/10/1919) (9/28/1920-11/6/1995) (married Margie Johnson) |
|
Second Husband and Children: William "Will" Brooks Willa Nita Brooks Karl Frances Brooks Joseph Kay Brooks Antone Leavitt "Tony" Brooks |
(4/23/1881-3/28/1970) (married 5/25/1933) (xx/xx/xxxx-xx/xx/xxxx) (married Thales Alfred Derrick) (11/7/1935-10/31/2015) (married Carla Irene Hoyt) (4/24/1937-6/10/2017) (married Ida Jean Lewis Taylor) (xx/xx/xxxx-xx/xx/xxxx) (married Janet Poulson) |
PHOTOS
|
|
|
 SUU-0018 Juanita Brooks signing a book in 1967 |
|
REFERENCES
Wikipedia article on Juanita BrooksJuanita Brooks Biographical Note and Chronology
Remembering Juanita Brooks
by Douglas D. Alder, June 3, 2022
Juanita and Will Brooks by Walt Brooks
Juanita Brooks
by Matthew Despain and Fred R. Gowans
Utah History Encyclopedia (Utah History To Go)
Juanita Brooks: Mormon Woman Historian
by Levi S. Peterson
1988
In Memoriam: Juanita Brooks
by Levi S. Peterson
Sunstone Magazine, October 1989, Pages 6-8
Historian Juanita Brooks left a legacy of influence
by Brian Passey
St. George Magazine, October 2014, Pages 39-40
Juanita Brooks and Family Narratives
by William A. Wilson
9th Juanita Brooks Lecture (1991)
Juanita Brooks Lecture Series
Honoring Juanita Brooks: A Compilation of 30 Annual Presentations from the Juanita Brooks Lecture Series.
Book compiled by Douglas D. Alder, Ph.D.
Published by the Dixie State University Press, November 2014
The Juanita Leone Leavitt Pulsipher Brooks Photograph Collection, 1928-1981
A Register of the Collection at the Utah State Historical Society
"A Few Personal Glimpses of Juanita Brooks"
by Ernest Pulsipher
Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, Number 3, Summer 1987, pp. 268-277
Juanita Brooks - Truck Driver, 1927 Trip to Provo
WCHS Lecture Series - Juanita Brooks Award, February 1983
Juanita Brooks - Washington County Historical Society Lifetime Membership Award, 2/23/1983
"In Memoriam: Juanita Brooks, 1898-1989"
by Melvin T. Smith
Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 58, Number 2, Spring 1990, pp. 201-203
"Juanita Brooks: Utah Historian"
Unpublished Utah Historical Quarterly article (Box 9, Folder 27)
by Ellen M. Lowe
"The Case of Juanita Brooks"
Unpublished Utah Historical Quarterly article (Box 16, Folder 1)
by Albert Winkler and Lorna Winkler
Juanita Brooks, Famed Utah & Mormon Historian, 1898-1989
Article by Naomi Watkins, Director of Education, Better Days 2020
Remembering Juanita Brooks
A 1-hour and 32-minute video of people sharing their rememberances of Juanita Brooks at a fundraiser event
for the Juanita Brooks Statue Project. The event was at the DiFiore Center in St. George on February 27, 2020.
DAR Women in American History Award presented to Juanita Brooks
by the Color Country Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, March 9, 2021
Descendents of Mary Hafen
FamilySearch entry for Juanita Leone Leavitt
Find-A-Grave entry for Juanita Leone "Pulsipher" Leavitt Brooks
Juanita Brooks: words from her son
by Karl Brooks
The Spectrum, February 27, 1999, p. 7
"Life Story of Joseph Kay Brooks"
by Joseph Kay Brooks
For an information page, click here.
Obituary for Joseph Kay Brooks