October 7: Birthday of Martha Berry (1865)
Prayer Idea
Pray for teachers who are helping young people learn and grow.
History Note
Martha McChesney Berry was born on October 7, 1865, in Alabama. While Martha was a baby, her family moved to Rome, Georgia. Martha grew up with five sisters, two brothers, and three cousins whose parents had died.
Riding on horseback with her father, Martha visited poor landowners and tenant farmers. She saw her father provide assistance to these families and decided that she wanted to use her life to help them also.
In the 1890s, Berry met three boys crossing her family’s property. She started talking to them and found that they did not go to school or Sunday school. She told them some Bible stories and invited them to come back the next Sunday. Soon she had whole families showing up to listen to her tell stories in a small log cabin.
Berry built a small school building, used an abandoned church building, and found two other facilities to start four Sunday schools that eventually became day schools for children to attend during the week.
In 1902 Martha Berry opened the Boys Industrial School (later known as Mount Berry School for Boys) and in 1909 opened the Martha Berry School for Girls. In 1926 she established Berry Junior College, which soon became a four-year college.
Berry College received small gifts from numerous supporters. It also received larger gifts from Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ellen Axson Wilson, who was also from Rome. The school eventually acquired 27,000 acres of land. It is the largest college campus in the world.
Martha Berry died in 1942. She lived a life inspired by her motto, "Not to be ministered unto, but to minister."
Calvin Coolidge presented Martha Berry with the Roosevelt Memorial Association Medal for Distinguished Service in 1925.
Learn More
This is a brief documentary about Martha Berry’s life and work.
Find more resources at Homeschool History.
