Margaret Berry was UT-Austin’s Associate Dean of Women in August of 1966.
Berry first came to Austin as a freshman in 1933. She left in 1937 after receiving a degree in History from the University of Texas. After receiving a Doctorate in higher education from Columbia, Berry returned to Austin in 1960 to work on her dissertation. A year later she would become Associate Dean of Women.
On the afternoon of Aug. 1, Berry left her office over her lunch break for a hair appointment. She descended the back stairs of her office, what is now the Dorothy L. Gebauer Building, just to the northeast of the Tower. At that time she heard what she thought were firecrackers. She didn’t give it much thought. It wasn’t until she reached her salon and heard the radio reports did she realize what was happening.