Oil on canvas, Jean Pilk, 1976, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

BROOKS, Overton, (nephew of John Holmes Overton), a Representative from Louisiana; born near Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, La., December 21, 1897; attended the public schools; during the First World War served overseas as an enlisted man in the Sixth Field Artillery, First Division, Regular Army, in 1918 and 1919; was graduated from the law department of Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge in 1923; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Shreveport, La.; served as United States Commissioner 1925-1935; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fifth and to the twelve succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1937, until his death in Bethesda, Md., September 16, 1961; chairman, Committee on Science and Astronautics (Eighty-sixth and Eighty-seventh Congresses); interment in Forest Hills Cemetery, Shreveport, La.