Theodore Moody Berry (November 8, 1905 – October 15, 2000) is an American politician of the

Charter Party of Cincinnati, Ohio The Charter Committee (also known as the Charter Party) is an independent political organization dedicated to good government in Cincinnati, Ohio. Members of this committee are called Charterites. Committee organizers prefer the term Charter Com ...

and was the first African-American mayor of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Early life and education

Born in poverty in

Maysville, Kentucky Maysville is a home rule-class city in Mason County, Kentucky, United States and is the seat of Mason County. The population was 8,782 as of 2019, making it the 51st-largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, north ...

, on November 8, 1905, Ted Berry overcame great obstacles to achieve personal success and gain a national reputation as a leader in the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

. He graduated from Woodward High School in 1924 and served as class

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

, the first African American to hold that honor in Cincinnati. In his senior year, he won an essay contest with an entry submitted under the pseudonym Thomas Playfair after an all-white panel had rejected his initial entry. Berry worked at steel mills in Newport, Kentucky, to pay tuition at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

and then at its law school.

Legal career

Berry was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1932. He served as president of the Cincinnati branch of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

from 1932 to 1946. In 1938 he was appointed the first black assistant prosecuting attorney for Hamilton County.

Military service

During World War II, Berry worked in the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

as a morale officer. The job took him to Washington, D.C. and also caused him to change his political affiliation from Republican to Democrat. In 1945, Berry defended three black Army Air Force officers, members of the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the ...

, who had protested a segregated officer's club in Indiana. He won acquittal for two of the men. In 1995, the Air Force pardoned the third who had been convicted.

NAACP service

From 1947 to 1961, Berry served on the NAACP Ohio Committee for Civil Rights Legislation where he worked on equal employment and fair housing issues. He was also involved with the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati.

Political career

He began his Cincinnati political career in 1947 when he ran for City Council. He lost that year but won in 1949. He was chairman of the finance committee in 1953 and led a controversial battle to create a city income tax. In 1955 he was elected vice mayor. His 1963 political campaign to return to Cincinnati's City Council was chaired by Rev. L. Venchael Booth. His creation of the Community Action Commission in Cincinnati caught the attention of

Sargent Shriver Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. (November 9, 1915 – January 18, 2011) was an American diplomat, politician, and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family. Shriver was the driving force behind the creation ...

. In 1965 President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

appointed Berry to head the

Office of Economic Opportunity The Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda. It was established in 1964 as an i ...

's Community Action Programs that included Head Start, the

Job Corps Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young men and women ages 16 to 24. Mission and purpose Job Corps' mission is to help young people ages 16 throug ...

and

Legal Services In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professio ...

. Berry returned to Cincinnati in 1969 and was appointed to City Council in 1971. He was elected mayor in 1972 and served for four years—Cincinnati's first African-American mayor. In the 1980s and 1990s, Berry struggled to return proportional representation to Cincinnati because he firmly believed that it gave a fair share of power to Black voters.

Death and legacy

Berry died at the age of 94 on October 15, 2000. Other prominent black Cincinnatians such as

Marian Spencer Marian Regelia Alexander Spencer (June 28, 1920 – July 9, 2019) was an American politician who served as Vice Mayor of the Cincinnati City Council in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was the first African American woman to be elected to the Council. Th ...

and Judge

Nathaniel R. Jones Nathaniel Raphael Jones (May 12, 1926 – January 26, 2020) was an American attorney, judge, and law professor. As general counsel of the NAACP, Jones fought to end school segregation, including in the northern United States. From 1979 until 199 ...

considered Ted Berry a role model. The city of Cincinnati has named both a street and a park after Berry.

Associations and awards

Mayor Berry was a

Prince Hall Freemason Prince Hall Freemasonry is a branch of North American Freemasonry for African Americans founded by Prince Hall on September 29, 1784. There are two main branches of Prince Hall Freemasonry: the independent State Prince Hall Grand Lodges, most of ...

and a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternity Inc., Alpha Alpha Chapter. He was one of the founders that helped charter Alpha Rho Lambda Chapter, December 21, 1929, in Columbus, Ohio. In 1979, the

honored Berry by awarding him the William Robert Ming Advocacy Award for the spirit of financial and personal sacrifice displayed in his legal work.

References

External links

Finding Aid for Theodore M. Berry papers
Archives and Rare Books Library, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Theodore M. 1905 births 2000 deaths Mayors of Cincinnati NAACP activists African-American lawyers Activists for African-American civil rights Ohio lawyers University of Cincinnati alumni American civil rights lawyers Charter Party politicians People from Maysville, Kentucky 20th-century American politicians African-American mayors in Ohio People of the United States Office of War Information Woodward High School (Cincinnati, Ohio) alumni 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American politicians African-American men in politics