Brooks Hays Papers
Brooks Hays (1898-1981) was a U.S. Congressman from Arkansas; staff assistant to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson; Director of the Ecumenical Institute at Wake Forest University; and chair of the North Carolina Good Neighbor Council. His papers consist of correspondence; speeches and addresses; photographs; audiotapes; and clippings relating to his activities after his defeat for Congress in 1958.
Biographical and Historical Note
Lawrence Brooks Hays, known as Brooks, was born August 9, 1898, in London, Arkansas. He was educated in Russellville County, Arkansas, public schools before entering the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (1915-1919). He briefly served in the U.S. Army during World War I in 1918 before completing his studies in 1919. Hays then attended George Washington University to obtain a law degree (1922) and returned to Russellville to practice law.
He entered Arkansas state politics as a young man, serving two years as Assistant Attorney General (1925-1927) and later as the Democratic National Committee's Arkansas representative (1932-1939). Hays then served seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1943-1959). Hays's deep devotion to his faith and the Southern Baptist Convention is reflected in his support for legislation that created a National Day of Prayer (1952), added "under God" to the pledge of allegiance (1954), and mandated "in God We Trust" appear on U.S. currency (1955). Hays was known for his moderate stand on civil rights issues, and it was these moderate beliefs which cost him his congressional seat in 1958. He later ran unsuccessfully for a House of Representatives seat in N.C.'s fifth district in 1972.
In addition to his political positions, Hays held a number of other government and religious positions. He was Southern Baptist Convention president (1957-1958), a member of the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors (1959-1961), Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations (1961), and Special Assistant to presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-1964). In addition to politics, Hays was a professor of political science at Rutgers University, professor of government at University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1966-1967), and Ecumenical Institute director at Wake Forest University (1968-1970).
Hays married Marian Prather on February 2, 1922, and they had two children: M. Steele Hays and Betty Brooks Hays Bell. He died in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on October 11, 1981.
Collection Overview
His papers consists of correspondence; speeches and addresses; photographs; audiotapes; and clippings relating to his activities after his defeat for Congress in 1958. A microfiche copy of the papers is also available.
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by: John Woodard; machine-readable finding aid created by Apex, 2004
- Revision Description
- Revised by Stephanie Bennett and Nancy Sullivan, 2023
- Access Restrictions
- This collection is open for use.
- Copyright Notice
- The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
- Preferred Citation
- Brooks Hays Papers (MS134), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.