Her father was an Episcopalian minister, born and educated in New York, and at Howard University.

[1][2] Her mother, from Alabama, studied music in Boston and taught at several black colleges; she was also active in temperance work.

[5][6] Brooks taught at Douglass High School in Baltimore for five years as a young woman,[7][8] and taught history at Cardozo High School in Washington, D.C.[5] for 28 years, with a permanent appointment granted in 1932.

[6] In 1928, Ruth DeMond was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her friend and school colleague Yolande Du Bois (daughter of W. E. B.

[6] Brooks' sister Marguerite DeMond married Harlem Renaissance journalist John P. Davis.