Martha McChesney Berry

Educator, founder of Berry College

• Born: October 7, 1866
• Birthplace: Alabama
• Died: February 27, 1942
• Place of death: Atlanta, Georgia

Education: Edgeworth School

Significance: Martha McChesney Berry was an American educator and philanthropist. In the early 1900s, she opened several schools for poor rural children near her family homestead in Rome, Georgia. She later founded Berry College, which continued to operate decades after her death. Berry’s efforts were admired by many prominent figures around the world, including several US presidents. She received multiple honors for her work during and after her lifetime.

Background

Martha McChesney Berry was born on October 7, 1866, in Alabama. Her father, Thomas Berry, served as a lieutenant in the Mexican-American War (1846–1848) and a Confederate captain in the American Civil War (1861–1865). He also partook in the California gold rush in the late 1840s.

The Berrys relocated to Rome, Georgia, when Berry was still an infant. The family operated a plantation, and her father was a partner in Berrys and Company, a wholesale grocers and cotton brokerage business. Berry lived at a large residence known as Oak Hill with her five sisters, two brothers, and three cousins. She received her early education from a governess before attending finishing school at the Edgeworth School in Baltimore, Maryland. She spent less than a year at Edgeworth and received no further education beyond her cultural travels across Europe.

Berry lived a quiet life for many years. She often rode with her father to visit the poorer areas of the region. Her father was generous to the poor landowners and tenant farmers nearby, and he regularly came to their assistance in times of need. Berry was inspired by this and became passionate about helping the less fortunate.

When Berry learned that most of the local children did not attend school or know anything about the Bible, she began inviting children to her home to teach them lessons in reading and religion. Soon entire families were showing up to Berry’s makeshift schoolhouse in a log cabin near her home. To accommodate the growing number of students, she had a small schoolhouse built nearby Oak Hill on land given to her by her father. She also used three other buildings, teaching mostly religious studies at first. These four schools eventually grew into day schools for children.

Life’s Work

Berry later decided to build dormitories for the children attending her school. She believed that sending them home after their studies diminished the impact of the education they received. In January 1902, she opened her first boarding school, the Boys’ Industrial School. The school was built on land near Oak Hill and only had five boarders. The following year, the school was incorporated and a board of trustees was established. The school was later renamed the Mount Berry School for Boys. In 1909, she had another school built for girls close by and named it the Martha Berry School for Girls.

Berry’s school mainly catered to high school–aged children, but she also taught younger kids. Many areas across Georgia followed Berry’s example, and soon there was an agricultural and mechanical school in every congressional district in the state. Her efforts received national attention, and similar educational ventures began cropping up in other states. Her schools set the bar for vocational, mechanical, and agricultural schools across the country and in other parts of the world. Berry’s schools were unique in their accommodation of the poorer rural class and their system for meeting the needs of this specific demographic. Berry routinely reached out to philanthropists from across the nation to help fund her schools. American business magnate Henry Ford was a major source of income for the schools, and he personally donated more than four million dollars to help construct buildings and provide school materials for the children.

Berry was a much beloved figure throughout Georgia and made many friends around the country. Georgia’s state congress named her a “distinguished citizen” in 1924. President Theodore Roosevelt and Senator William Gibbs McAdoo considered themselves great admirers of Berry and her work. Although her educational style was strict and demanding, her intentions were noble, and this quality drew people to her. She saw potential in her underprivileged students and hoped their education would benefit their futures. She also hoped that educating the younger generations would uplift the rural community, leading to more opportunities for the poorer class.

Berry established the Berry Junior College in 1926. It became a four-year institution in 1930. In 1931, Good Housekeeping readers chose Berry as one of the magazine’s twelve outstanding women of the year. In 1939, Southern farmers named her the “noted Southern woman of the year.” Berry also became the first woman in the state of Georgia to be named a member of the state’s university regents and planning board. She died on February 27, 1942.

Impact

Berry College remained open following its founder’s death, and remains open as of 2018 as a private liberal arts college. The college has the largest contiguous campus in the United States, spreading across more than 27,000 acres (10,926 hectares). Berry’s educational philosophies were adopted by many other states across the country, and her efforts gave children of little means the opportunity to become educated citizens. Although she never attended college herself, she was awarded eight honorary doctorates during her lifetime. She received many other honors, even after her death. A portion of Highway 27 in Georgia was named after Berry, and she was posthumously inducted into the Georgia Women’s Hall of Fame in 1992. In 2002, she was inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame at the University of Georgia.

Personal Life

Berry is buried on the grounds of Berry College. Her gravesite is marked with a Shining Light Award from the Atlanta Gas Light Company. The company awarded Berry its first posthumous Shining Light Award, which were presented to Georgians who had inspired the lives of others through service. The motto written on Berry’s gravestone is “Not to be ministered unto but to minister.”

Bibliography

“Berry Quick Facts.” Berry College, www.berry.edu/quickfacts/. Accessed 12 Sept. 2018.

James, Edward T., editor. Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 2. Belknap Press, 1971.

“Martha Berry.” University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, www.caes.uga.edu/alumni/recognitions/georgia-ag-hall-of-fame/portrait-gallery/martha-berry.html. Accessed 12 Sept. 2018.

“Martha Berry (1865–1942).” Berry College, www.berry.edu/marthaberry/. Accessed 12 Sept. 2018.

“Martha Berry (1866–1942).” New Georgia Encyclopedia, www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/education/martha-berry-1866-1942. Accessed 12 Sept. 2018.

“Martha Berry: Founder of the Berry Schools.” Berry College, libguides.berry.edu/c.php?g=121816&p=794879. Accessed 12 Sept. 2018.