T. M. Berry Project: Sargent Shriver and Special Thanks to Gail Berry West and Judge Ted N. Berry

By Laura Laugle

Berry and Shriver talkingMy favorite finds for this week come to the Archives and Rare Books library courtesy of Judge Ted N. Berry and his sister Gail Berry West who kindly donated another addition to the Theodore M. Berry Collection. The pair came to visit the ARB while Gail was up from Washington D.C. visiting. I had a great time escorting them down memory lane with some items of particular interest I pulled from the collection for their visit.

Among the treasures they brought were these two photos which picture Berry and Shriver at a meeting with top management at the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) and Vice President Hubert Humphrey (seated at the far end of the table next to Sarge in the photo below.) Though they worked together closely for almost four years during the Johnson administration we have only a few photos of Berry and Shriver together and little in the way of correspondence other than that which pertains to the operation of OEO programs.

Berry and Shriver at tableLetter to Berry from Shriver

These photos and this wonderful letter, when related to items which were already in the collection, such as the photos below, paint a much clearer portrait of their relationship than was apparent from previously held material alone. For this special gift of insight into their father’s life and work, we once again send special thanks to Ted and Gail!


Berry and Shriver

Shriver laughing with Berry looking on

In 2010, the University of Cincinnati Libraries received a $61,287 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission of the Archives and Records Administration to fully process the Theodore M. Berry Collection in the Archives & Rare Books Library.  All information and opinions published on the Berry project website and in the blog entries are those of the individuals involved in the grant project and do not reflect those of the National Archives and Records Administration.  We gratefully acknowledge the support of NARA.