Ted Berry
American mayor (1905–2000)
Theodore Moody Berry (November 8, 1905 – October 15, 2000) was an American politician of the Charter Party of Cincinnati, Ohio and was the first African-American mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Early life and education
Born in poverty in Maysville, Kentucky, on November 8, 1905, Ted Berry overcame great obstacles to achieve personal success and gain a national reputation as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He graduated from Woodward High School in 1924 and served as class valedictorian, the first African American to hold that honor in Cincinnati. In his senior year, he won an essay contest with an entry submitted under the pseudonym Thomas Playfair after an all-white panel had rejected his initial entry. Berry worked at steel mills in Newport, Kentucky, to pay tuition at the University of Cincinnati and then at its law school.
Legal career
Berry was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1932. He served as president of the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP from 1932 to 1946. In 1938 he was appointed the first black assistant prosecuting attorney for Hamilton County.
Military service
During World War II, Berry worked in the Office of War Information as a morale officer. The job took him to Washington, D.C., and also caused him to change his political affiliation from Republican to Democrat.
The public source identifies “Ted Berry” as american mayor (1905–2000). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Berry, American and mayor.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Ted Berry”, the useful work is to connect “american mayor (1905–2000)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7693008. VIAF identifies the subject as 77982913. The Library of Congress control number is n92122576. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1905, 2000, 1924 and 1932.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ted Berry”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ted Berry primary sources, Ted Berry archive and Berry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ted Berry”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ted Berry” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.