- Jun 27, 2003
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MARTHA BERRY
Not to be ministered unto, but to minister.
Berry College motto
One Sunday Martha Berry, the young daughter of a well-to-do family in northern Georgia, went out to an old log cabin to read and write. She noticed that mountain children were peeking in to watch her. Inviting them in, she told them Bible stories. Week after week, more children and even adults came to listen. Martha was taken with the bright youngsters, who had virtually no chance of obtaining an education, and started a small school in an old church near Lavender Mountain. The church was named Possum Trot, and it became the cradle of one of the most fantastic educational institutions in America.
Students worked at the school to pay their tuition, and Martha never turned away anyone for lack of funds. She named the gate leading to the campus The Gate of Opportunity and believed that every building on the site should have a spire, to keep people looking up. As needs grew, Martha searched for outside funding. Martha Berry and her school inspired the world and attracted such benefactors as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin Roosevelt, the king and queen of England, and many more. Each time a new project was needed, Martha announced, We are stepping out on a plank of faith. Even today, according to Martha Berrys wishes, Berry College continues to be a different kind of institution, with a strong commitment to educational quality, Christian values, insistence on the work ethic, and adherence to the principles of American private enterprise: personal responsibility, individual initiative, service to others, courage to take risks, belief in self and in our nation.
CONSIDER THIS: One person can change the world. Could you be that one person?
Submitted by Richard
Not to be ministered unto, but to minister.
Berry College motto
One Sunday Martha Berry, the young daughter of a well-to-do family in northern Georgia, went out to an old log cabin to read and write. She noticed that mountain children were peeking in to watch her. Inviting them in, she told them Bible stories. Week after week, more children and even adults came to listen. Martha was taken with the bright youngsters, who had virtually no chance of obtaining an education, and started a small school in an old church near Lavender Mountain. The church was named Possum Trot, and it became the cradle of one of the most fantastic educational institutions in America.
Students worked at the school to pay their tuition, and Martha never turned away anyone for lack of funds. She named the gate leading to the campus The Gate of Opportunity and believed that every building on the site should have a spire, to keep people looking up. As needs grew, Martha searched for outside funding. Martha Berry and her school inspired the world and attracted such benefactors as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin Roosevelt, the king and queen of England, and many more. Each time a new project was needed, Martha announced, We are stepping out on a plank of faith. Even today, according to Martha Berrys wishes, Berry College continues to be a different kind of institution, with a strong commitment to educational quality, Christian values, insistence on the work ethic, and adherence to the principles of American private enterprise: personal responsibility, individual initiative, service to others, courage to take risks, belief in self and in our nation.
CONSIDER THIS: One person can change the world. Could you be that one person?
Submitted by Richard
