3
Dr. Mary Berry­
a lea sel perso
By Henry Duvall
She was ousted in 1983
from the U.S. Commi ion on
Civil Right "for begin an
outspo en critic of Reagan Ad­
ministration' civil rights poli­
cies," ys the Black educator,
who wa bsequently rein tated
by the court .
As founder of the Free
South Africa Movement she
wa one of the first anti­
apartheid demonstrators arrested
at the South African embassy
in the nation's capital.
A U.S. a . stant cretary
for education under President
Garter, she oversaw nearly 13
billion in federal education pro­
grams,
Who i this uman? "I'm
a scholar, teacher and activist,"
declare Dr. Mary Frances Berry,
a Howard University profes r _
of history and law, and a mem­
ber of the U.S. Commission
on Civil Rights, who has just
written her fifth boo .
"WHY ERA FAILED:
Politics, Women's Rights and
the Amending Process of the
Con itution," published by
Indiana University Pre , ". . .
is must reading for anyone con­
cerned abou t curing equal
right for all American," the
Rev. Jesse Jackson of the
ational Rainbow Coalition has
remarked.
Berry is a drum beater for
civil rights. "I'm a 'cau per­
son,'" she explains.
In her mode office in down­
town Washington, D.C., Berry
emphasizes during an interview
that she' a firm believer in
justice and opportunity for all,
and that whatever measures
help minorities and women will
benefit society as a whole.
A ed if she is a cru der
for peace, justice and the Ameri­
can w y, Berry indicated that'
one way of descnbin her.
"Some people would say I'm
a do-gooder. If doing things for
the good of others is a do­
gooder, then that's what I am,"
she adds.
As a teacher, the bespectacl­
ed scholar with a short-cropped
Afro hairdo has been described
as a motivating force. She
doesn't d ell on her fame, say
LydeIl R. Jordan, a political
ience nior in Berry's "Hi-
tory of American Law" course
at Howard. "She draws from
her experience as it relates to
the subject of the cour . Her
mere presence motivate me.'
Berry's 10 - ey manner ex­
plodes when she eaks pub-
licly. Damon L. Smith, a
transfer udent in her cla
this fall, describes her s
"dynamic speaker." "You can't
help listening to her."
Smith fir heard Berry speak
when he was a student at Wilber­
force University. little did e
kno that eventually e would
.become his teacher. "I've gone-
to the library to e the books
she ha written. I know she ha
done her homework," the 19-
year-old sophomore from ichi
gan stresses.
The scholar is the
of numer us article e
boo s, including 'Blac
tance ite Law: Hi t
of Con itutional Racism-
America" and 'Lon emory
The Black Experience in
America" which she co-
auth red.
Profe r Berry joined the
Howard faculty in 1980, the
year she became a member of
the U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights. She had rved for
three years as assistant secre­
tary for education in the U.S.
Department of Health, Educa­
tion and Welfare.
Howard became Berry's first
experience teaching at pre­
dominantly Black school. She
had previously held faculty
appointments at the University
of Colorado at Boulder, where
she was chancellor' th Uni­
versity of arylan at College
Park where she al rved a
provost of the Division of Be­
havioral and So ial S ience .
and at the University of ich­
igan among other schools.
Her desire to reach a larger
number of Blac collegians a
a chief reason for her going to
Howard. She wanted to m e
the point that "you can lead a
career and be an activist. You
have a duty to do "
"I can g to cIa .. 1 can 0
to jail. . ." But Berry notes
'I don't go to jail when 1 have a
cIa ."
Born in ashville, Tenn.
Berry attended public hools
there. 'I a a bo worm."
she recall Initially, she anted
to be a historian.
Subsequently, she became a
udent of philo phy, earning a
bachelor's degree in that di i­
pline from Ho ard. She later
went on to receive rna er's
degre at Ho ard and a doctor­
ate in hi ory, in ddition to a _
law degree, from the University
of ic an.
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