She is credited with saving the original San Francisco Mint building, known as the "Granite Lady," by transferring it to the Treasury Department. The building, one of the few to survive the Great Earthquake of 1906, had been vacant since 1937 and fallen into disrepair. It is now both a National Historic Landmark and a California Historical Landmark. Brooks received the "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" Award in 1974 from the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau for her preservation efforts.