George L. Berry
| George L. Berry | |
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United States Senator from Tennessee |
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In office May 6, 1937 – November 8, 1938 |
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| Appointed by | Gordon Browning |
| Preceded by | Nathan L. Bachman |
| Succeeded by | Tom Stewart |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 12, 1882 Rogersville, Tennessee |
| Died | December 4, 1948 (aged 66) Pressmen's Home, Tennessee |
| Political party | Democratic |
George Leonard Berry (September 12, 1882 – December 4, 1948) was president of the International Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America from 1907 to 1948 and a Democratic United States Senator from Tennessee from 1937 to 1938.
Berry was born in Hawkins County, Tennessee, near Rogersville. He left home at a very early age, becoming a pressman's assistant in 1891. He worked in this trade and was a labor union activist, being elected president of its international union in 1907.
During his tenure, the Pressmen's Union acquired and operated the former Hale Springs Resort, a mineral water resort in East Tennessee not far from Berry's boyhood home, as a sanatorium for its members suffering from "consumption" (tuberculosis), a common ailment of its members in that era, a residential trade school for its members to learn more advanced trades and increase their income, and as its international headquarters.
Berry had learned of its availability during a visit to his home area in conjunction with a search of the relatively nearby Asheville, North Carolina area, then renowned for its supposed curative properties with regard to respiratory disease. This facility became known as the Pressmen's Home. It was designed to be largely self-sufficient, and one point had a large agricultural operation, and, prior to the coming of the Tennessee Valley Authority, its own hydroelectric power plant.
In World War I, Berry participated in the American Expeditionary Force with the rank of major, serving overseas 1918–1919, and then returned home to resume active leadership of his union. He was frequently a delegate to many national and international labor meetings and congresses, and at the 1924 Democratic Convention, was almost nominated for Vice President. On May 6, 1937, he was appointed to the United States Senate by governor of Tennessee Gordon Browning to serve in the place of Nathan L. Bachman, who had died in office.
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