Leonidas Harris Berry, M.D., was born on 20 July 1902 in Woodsdale, North Carolina. After graduating from Wilberforce University in 1924, Dr. Berry moved to Chicago where he received a second B.S. degree from the University of Chicago, followed by a M.D. degree from the Rush Medical College of the University. In 1933, he also received a M.S. degree in Pathology from the University of Illinois Medical School.
After receiving his medical degree, Dr. Berry worked briefly at the Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, D.C., and then at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois where he specialized in gastroenterology. Dr. Berry has lived in Chicago since his return in 1931, working in addition at the Michael Reese Hospital, Provident Hospital, and the University of Illinois Medical School.
In addition to his long and distinguished medical career, Dr. Berry has been active in teaching, writing, and community public service. The latter has included work in civil rights, on the racial problems of public health, and with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Further biographical information on Dr. Berry can be found in his 1981 family history/autobiography, "I Wouldn't Take Nothin' for My Journey," found in the reading room of the National Library of Medicine's History of Medicine Division.
From the guide to the Leonidas H. Berry Papers, 1907-1982, (History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine)
