Louis Berry
| Louis Berry | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 8, 1914 Alexandria, Rapides Parish Louisiana, USA |
| Died | May 3, 1998 (aged 83) Lafayette, Louisiana |
| Alma mater | Howard University School of Law |
| Occupation | Dean, Southern University Law Center (1972-1974) |
| Political party | Democrat |
Louis Berry (October 9, 1914 – May 3, 1998) was the first African American permitted to practice law in his native formerly segregated city of Alexandria in Rapides Parish in Central Louisiana.
A son of Frank Berry, Sr., a tailor and grocer in Alexandria, Louis Berry graduated in 1941 from historically black Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C.
On August 1, 1945, Berry became the first African-American admitted to the practice of law in Louisiana since A. P. Tureaud in 1927. Berry hoped to join Tureaud's law practice, in New Orleans, but Tureaud could not financially take on another lawyer at that time. Instead, Berry practiced with John Perkins, who was licensed in Mississippi, not Louisiana. In 1947, with the opening of Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, several black lawyers were recruited to join the faculty. Berry served as dean of Southern Law Center from 1972 to 1974.
Berry returned to his native Alexandria sometimes prior to 1950. Under the custom of the time, a new lawyer had to be introduced to the local bar association. When other white attorneys turned down Berry and privately ridiculed him, Camille Gravel, a high-powered criminal defense lawyer with political connections in both Baton Rouge and Washington, called Berry and offered to introduce him to their legal colleagues. This action was considered politically courageous in the segregated system of the American South. Berry filled the role as the only black lawyer in Alexandria much as Jesse N. Stone, later the president of the Southern University System in Baton Rouge, had done in Shreveport.
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