Mary Frances Berry
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Mary Frances Berry is Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and the former chairwoman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She is also the former board chair of Pacifica Radio. She is a past president of the Organization of American Historians, the primary professional organization for historians of the United States.
At Penn, Berry teaches American legal history. She is the author of eight books, including My Face Is Black Is True: Callie House and the Struggle for Ex-Slave Reparations (2005); The Pig Farmer's Daughter and Other Tales of American Justice: Episodes of Racism and Sexism in the Courts from 1865 to the Present (1999); Black Resistance, White Law: A History of Constitutional Racism in America (1994, orig. 1971); The Politics of Parenthood: Child Care, Women's Rights, and the Myth of the Good Mother (1993); Why ERA Failed: Politics, Women's Rights, and the Amending Process of the Constitution (1986); Long Memory: The Black Experience in America, with John Blassingame (1982); and Military Necessity and Civil Rights Policy: Black Citizenship and the Constitution, 1861-1868 (1977).
Before coming to Penn, Berry was provost of the College of Behavioral and Social Science at University of Maryland, College Park and chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder. She received her graduate and law training at the University of Michigan. Berry has received 33 honorary degrees, including an honorary LL.D. from Bates College in 2001.
Berry was first appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights by President Jimmy Carter. During her tenure she became involved in legal battles with presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. When Reagan attempted to remove her from the board, she went to court to keep her seat and won. In 1993 she was elevated to the chair by President Bill Clinton, who then reappointed her in 1999. During Berry's tenure, Peter Kirsanow sued Commissioner Victoria Wilson claiming her tenure had expired and he had been validly appointed to replace her by George Bush. She won in federal district court but ultimately lost on appeal and the court ordered the sseating of Kirsanow. The dispute determined which political party would have a majority of the board's members. Berry left office before the expiration of her term in late 2004 and was succeeded by Gerald A. Reynolds.
Under Carter, before being appointed to the Civil Rights Commission, Berry was assistant secretary for education in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
Berry accepted an invitation from a unanimous Pacifica Radio board to become chair. She drew great controversy from listeners, programmers, and station staff, after she and the board attempted to modify programing in order to expand the listeners of the stations and to attract a more diverse audience. (Unlike most public service stations, Pacifica stations hold valuable high wattage licenses at commercial frequencies in major urban markets). Opponents spread rumors that the board proposed to sell the stations, to incorporate "enhanced underwriting" (commercials) on a network long proud of its "listener support" and the consequent freedom to freely address issues that would make underwriters uncomfortable - - this being viewed as an attempt to turn Pacifica into a "mini -NPR". After two years of political and legal battles, including a Pacifica board-forced shutdown of KPFA productions (which lead to massive street protests), some Board memebers resigned and Berry left at the end of her term on the Board. Through legal battles and changes the network continued on its path prior to Berry's tenure and the listenship stayed at the same low levels.
