Mary Frances Berry Awarded 2021 Lewis Award for History and Social Justice

Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History Emerita, has been awarded the 2021 Lewis Award for History and Social Justice by the American Historical Association. The annual award recognizes a historian for leadership and sustained engagement at the intersection of historical work, public culture, and social justice. The prize is named in memory of John Lewis (1940–2020), the civil rights leader who represented Georgia with grace and distinction in the United States House of Representatives for 34 years. It was established with an endowment gift from the Agentives Fund.

Berry is the author of 12 books including, Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich: Vote Buying and the Corruption of Democracy (2016); We Are Who We Say We Are: A Black Family's Search for Home Across the Atlantic World (2014); Power in Words: The Stories behind Barack Obama's Speeches, from the State House to the White House with Josh Gottheimer (2010), And Justice For All: The United States Commission On Civil Rights And the Struggle For Freedom in America (2009);  and My Face is Black Is True: Callie House and the Struggle for Ex-Slave Reparations (2005).  

Berry has had a distinguished career in public service. From 1980 to 2004, she was a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and from 1993-2004 served as Chair. Between 1977 and 1980, she served as the Assistant Secretary for Education in the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). She has also served as Provost of the University of Maryland and Chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
 
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