Juanita Brooks

Juanita Pulsipher Brooks (January 15, 1898 – August 26, 1989) was an American historian and author, specializing in the American West and Mormon history, including books related to the Mountain Meadows massacre, to which her ancestor Dudley Leavitt was sometimes linked. Born Juanita Leone Leavitt, Brooks was born and raised in Bunkerville, Nevada. In 1919 she married Ernest Pulsipher, who died of cancer little more than a year later, leaving her ... more

Juanita Pulsipher Brooks (January 15, 1898 – August 26, 1989) was an American historian and author, specializing in the American West and Mormon history, including books related to the Mountain Meadows massacre, to which her ancestor Dudley Leavitt was sometimes linked. Born Juanita Leone Leavitt, Brooks was born and raised in Bunkerville, Nevada. In 1919 she married Ernest Pulsipher, who died of cancer little more than a year later, leaving her with an infant son. She earned her bachelor's degree from BYU and a master's degree from Columbia University. Settling in St. George, Utah, she became an instructor of English and dean of women at Dixie College. In 1933 she resigned from the college to marry a widower, Will Brooks. She became stepmother to his four sons. Within five years the couple added a daughter and three sons to their family. For many years she served on the Board of the Utah Historical Society where she devoted herself to unearthing diaries and records of early settlers... less