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Students place their pennies in a basket on Berry College Mountain Day
Students place their pennies in a basket on Berry College Mountain Day.

Martha Berry/Mountain Day

Mountain Day at Berry College in northwest Georgia serves to honor the memory of Martha Berry (1855-1942) who founded an industrial school for boys in 1902 and, soon after, a grade school for girls to fulfill her unrelenting desire to serve and educate disadvantaged mountain children. As her vision grew, so did the Berry schools, culminating in the opening of a four-year college in 1930. To show their appreciation for Ms. Berry, the each student contributed a penny for each year of his age to an endowment fund at an annual birthday celebration and picnic for Ms. Berry held at the foot of Lavendar Mountain. During Ms. Berry's lifetime she stood to receive the small donations for the college in a gift basket. This tradition survives in The Grand March at Mountain Day, when Berry College students, in a procession around the hillside, drop their pennies in a basket, and celebrate a college homecoming with alumni, parents, and friends.

Originally submitted by: Bob Barr, Representative (7th District).



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The Local Legacies project provides a "snapshot" of American Culture as it was expressed in spring of 2000. Consequently, it is not being updated with new or revised information with the exception of "Related Website" links.

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