The Berrien County Historical Foundation was established to preserve, document, and promote the history of Berrien County, Georgia, a Wiregrass region community founded in 1856 from portions of Lowndes, Irwin, and Coffee counties. Throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the Foundation sought to record local historical knowledge at a time when many long-standing community institutions, family records, and first-person memories were at risk of being lost.

In 2007, as part of renewed preservation efforts following public interest generated by the 150th anniversary of Berrien County’s founding, the Foundation initiated the **Old Berrien Newsletter**, a quarterly historical publication intended to document topics of local and regional significance. Edited primarily by local historian **Bryan Shaw**, the newsletter was designed to capture narratives drawn from archival materials, public records, oral histories, and personal collections held by residents. Its single-topic format allowed detailed treatment of historical subjects such as early settlement, transportation routes, community institutions, agriculture, rural commerce, and family histories.

The newsletter was published regularly from 2007 to 2010, after which production lapsed for more than a decade. In 2023, the series was revived by the Foundation to continue documenting the history of Berrien County and surrounding communities. The modern issues maintain the original newsletter’s focus on regional context and historical continuity, addressing subjects such as land policy, agricultural transitions, notable events, and local cultural practices.

Across its publication history, the _Old Berrien Newsletter_ has served as a key vehicle for community-based documentation of the county’s historical development and has provided researchers with a sustained source of contextual information about Berrien County’s people, places, and institutions.

The Berrien County Historical Foundation was established to support the preservation and interpretation of the historical resources of Berrien County, Georgia. Since its founding, the community has relied on volunteer historians and local organizations to document family histories, preserve significant landmarks, and safeguard the county’s documentary heritage. In this mission, the Foundation operates as a nonprofit entity dedicated to promoting public awareness of Berrien County’s past and collecting materials that reflect the development of the region and its residents.