Llewellyn L. Berry papers

1900-1954

Reverend Dr. Llewellyn L. Berry was born in 1876 in Hampton, Virginia. His parents, John and Nancy Berry were among the founders of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Virginia. Berry was educated at Hampton Institute. Kittrel College, and Wilberforce University, where he received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1936. From approximately 1908 until 1933, Berry was pastor at several A.M.E. churches in North Carolina and Virginia. During this period, his skills as a preacher allowed him to move from rural churches, to larger, urban churches in the area. In 1933, he was appointed Secretary Treasurer of the Home and Foreign Mission Department of the A.M.E. Church.

Berry served as secretary for twenty-one years until his death in 1954. His leadership brought much progress and expansion to the Department of Missions. He led the A.M.E. Church to perform more mission activity than ever before, and worked diligently to provide for and to support the missionaries located in West and South Africa, the West Indies, South America, and Canada. He also traveled to many of these areas to observe the progress of the missions. Berry was the first Secretary of Missions in the A.M.E. Church to work with other denominations. For example, he led the church to become a member of the divisions of the Foreign Missions Conference of North America. Berry wrote several books and articles, the most notable of which is entitled, A Century of Missions: 1840-1940,published in 1942 by Gutenberg Printing Company. He firmly believed in the role of the church as a sponsor of educational institutions promoting the advancement of black people in the U.S. and abroad. This belief is reflected in Berry's work establishing mission schools, such as the Monrovia School in Liberia.

Berry was married in 1900 to Beulah Ann Harris. They had six children: Leonidas H., Richard O., Llewellyn Jr., Elbert J., Gladys, and Geraldine.