The Rev. Dr. J. Brooks Major, who was among the first faculty members at Hopkinsville Community College when it opened in 1965 and served as a minister in several Disciples of Christ churches for 45 years, died late Friday night at his home in South Christian. He was 93.
Major officiated at hundreds of funerals, weddings and baptisms in Christian, Trigg and Todd counties from 1948 to 1993, said Christian County Historian William T. Turner, a first cousin of Major. They were neighbors in the Beverly community between Hopkinsville and Herndon, and William and LaVena Turner were among the couples that Major married.
“He was my mentor, both religiously and professionally,” said Turner, who followed Major to HCC and became his teaching colleague in 1971.
A childhood illness probably charted Major’s course in life.
When polio struck him at the age of 7, his grandfather, E.B. Major, said the boy would not be able to farm. The family would need to send him to school so he could “preach and teach” to earn his living, his grandfather said.
But Major was not permanently crippled by polio, perhaps out of sheer determination, said Turner.
Around the age of 10, he began riding a bicycle to school every day. It was 7 miles one way on LaFayette Road from his home at Beverly into Hopkinsville. And in those days, LaFayette Road was gravel.
That routine for the next few years strengthened Major’s legs and may have reduced the harm that polio had done to his limbs, said Turner. When he started at Hopkinsville High School, he often stayed in town with relatives during the school week and didn’t need to bike to school every day.
Major earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Austin Peay State University. Then he went to Vanderbilt University in Nashville and received his master’s and doctorate degrees in theology.
By the time he was 20 years old, he was preaching at Liberty Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) at Beverly. He served several Disciples churches as pastor, including Millbrooke, Crofton, Roaring Spring and Elkton, but eventually returned to Liberty, where he retired from the ministry in 1993. As a parishioner, he was still teaching a Sunday school class at the age of 90.
He mainly taught U.S. and world history at HCC, and briefly taught history at the old South Christian and Pembroke high schools.
“He taught through human stories,” said Turner. “He made it come alive. He told it in such a narrative way, and people would stop taking notes and he would have to remind students to take their notes.”
As a longtime member of Athenaeum Society, a Hopkinsville men’s literary group, Major wrote papers about confederate soldiers, Brer Rabbit, the Bell Witch, dentures, abolitionist Cassius Clay, the Tennessee Valley Authority and outhouses, among many topics. His outhouse paper, titled “The Privy Council,” was a “riot,” said Turner.
Major and Turner were known for pulling pranks at the college. Some of their students did, too.
In the early 1970s, when Jim Adams was attending the community college, Major drove a silver Volkswagen Beetle. One day in class, Major mentioned he would be leaving the campus early because he had an important appointment and couldn’t be late. Adams and some of his friends headed for the parking lot, lifted Major’s Beetle and set it down sideways in between two other cars. It was a tight fit.
The students hid nearby and waited for Major, who couldn’t believe what had happened to his car when he walked outside. Adams and the others quickly ran out to right the vehicle, and Major was on his way.
“He would lecture in that Southern tone of his, and he was marvelous,” said Adams, who is a retired district court judge.
Major’s humor seemed to put him in some memorable situations. Turner recalled a time when Major was meeting with church elders in the basement at Liberty Christian. A new baptistry had been recently installed and someone had left the tap running that day. As the baptistry overflowed, water began to pour through the basement ceiling. Everyone dashed for the stairs. When they got into the sanctuary, Major told some of the men to hold his ankles and he dove in head-first. After he got the drain open, the men holding his ankles didn’t seem to understand it was time to pull the pastor out. Major later joked that it would have been some story if Liberty Christian’s minister had drowned in the baptistry.
Turner said Major last attended church in September.
At the time of his death, Major’s granddaughter, Michele Adkins, was caring for him so he could remain in his Beverly home, said Turner.
The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, at Liberty Christian Church, 7180 LaFayette Road. Visitation will be from noon until the funeral hour. Hughart Beard & Giles Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. The family suggests memorial contributions to Pennyroyal Hospice, 220 Burley Ave., Hopkinsville, KY 42240.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
