Phillips Brooks

Statue of Phillips Brooks, Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston

Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) was the author of the Christmas carol, "O Little Town of Bethlehem," which he wrote two years after the Civil War. Brooks, a descendent of Rev. John Cotton, later served as Episcopal bishop for Massachusetts.

Brooks wrote in his Christmas carol:

"O little town of Bethlehem! How still we see thee lie; Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, The silent stars go by; Yet in thy dark streets shineth, The everlasting Light; The hopes and fears of all the years, Are met in thee tonight."

Brooks is one of only 102 Americans to be honored with a bust in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans.