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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