Black History Month - Leonidas Harris Berry, MD (1902 — 1995)

Leonidas Harris Berry became the first black doctor at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, in 1946. He was later named to the attending staff and remained a senior attending physician. Berry led a Chicago commission in the 1950s to extend services to poor regions and make hospitals more welcoming to black doctors. Dr. Berry was also known as a specialist in the diseases of the digestive tract.

His commitment to fairness stretched beyond the clinic. Dr. Berry served black communities in Illinois and Alabama that in some cases had never seen a doctor. He also set up innovative drug treatment clinics in Chicago.

In the 1960s, he was involved in the United Front, a civil rights organization that helped black Cairo, Illinois citizens who had been the focus of racial attacks. He also helped form the Flying Black Medics in 1970, which was established to give medical care and health education to distant residents. (Association of American Medical Colleges, 2019) (New York Times, 1995)