Helen Lewis Brockman was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 fashion designer, author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

.

Biography

Brockman was born in Palo, Iowa

Palo, Iowa

Palo is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States. The population was 614 at the 2000 census; a special census in 2006 counted 899 residents. It is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area....

 to Levi Lewis and Ida Mae Ashworth. She attended the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

 and graduated with a B.A. in Latin and Greek. After college, she spent seven years teaching English and history in Schenectady, New York

Schenectady, New York

Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...

.

She was living in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 at the outbreak of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 without a career, and later without a husband, who sent her a letter from London, England stating that he was divorcing her to marry his secretary. Undaunted, she essentially created a career for herself in the fashion industry as a pattern designer. Before her first retirement in 1968, she taught at New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

's Fashion Institute of Technology

Fashion Institute of Technology

The Fashion Institute of Technology, generally known as FIT, is a State University of New York college of art, business, design, and technology connected to the fashion industry, with an urban campus located on West 27th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of...

 for nine years.

At age 66, when most people are retiring, Brockman accepted a position at Kansas State University

Kansas State University

Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...

 in the College of Human Ecology's Department of Clothing and Textiles teaching fashion design. She remained with the department until her second retirement in 1974.

Brockman's 1965 work, The Theory of Fashion Design, is what made her name widely known in the fashion industry; this text was a definitive work on the subject for many years.

Until November 2007, Brockman lived independently in her home adjacent to the university campus. She worked as a social host to visiting faculty and other dignitaries who stayed as guests of the university in the Brockman House. Helen Brockman died in Manhattan, Kansas

Manhattan, Kansas

Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...

. She donated her body to the University of Kansas

University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...

School of Medicine.

Publications

• Air Raid Precautions (New York: American Women's Voluntary Services), 1942 (with May Breen).
• The Theory of Fashion Design (New York: Wiley), 1965.
• Development of a Crepe Fabric for Use in Scarfs (Dayton, OH: Air Force Systems Command), 1966.
• The Skirt Handbook (Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University), 1968.
• The Slacks Handbook: Basic Pattern Development and Derivation of City Pants, Culottes and Slim Pants (Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University), 1968.
• The Slacks Handbook: Basic Pattern Development and Styling of City Pants, Jeans and Gaucho Pants (Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University), 1973.
• Mod-u-lar Pattern System Handbook (Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University Research Foundation), 1993.
• My Be-Attitudes (Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University Research Foundation), 1997.
• Both Sides of Nice (Manhattan, KS: KS Publishing, Inc.), 2005. ISBN 0-975410-93-8