A TRIBUTE TO FR. MOSES BERRY (1950-2024)
We were sad to hear the news that Fr. Moses Berry of Ash Grove, Mo. died on January 12, 2024.
Thanks to an introduction by independent scholar Jami Lewis of Mt. Vernon, we at Missouri Folk Arts and a cohort of community scholars were honored and enlightened upon visiting Fr. Berry in November 2012. The fieldtrip started at The Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Museum, which he founded and curated at 107 West Main Street in downtown Ash Grove. There, Fr. Berry shared stories about his ancestors and objects that belonged to their family or that represented their lives as enslaved, and later free, people. After the museum, our tour progressed to Fr. Berry’s family’s century farm that includes their residence, the Eastern Orthodox Theotokos Unexpected Joy Church, and the cemetery that was established in 1875 for the peaceful burial of “Slaves, Indians, and Paupers.”
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- Fr. Berry displays a family heirloom wedding ring quilt. Photo courtesy of Ozarks Light Writer Pete Bradshaw
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- The sign outside The Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Museum at 107 West Main in Ash Grove. Photo courtesy of Ozarks Light Writer Pete Bradshaw
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- Fr. Berry (right) discusses a hand-woven coverlet with Folk Arts Specialist Deb Bailey and blues musician Clarence Brewer, on November 15, 2012. Photo courtesy of Ozarks Light Writer Pete Bradshaw
Since our visit, the Museum as a bricks and mortar site closed, and daughter Dr. Dorothy Berry worked with her father to create the Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Museum Online. Additionally, the Berry Cemetery–or the Holy Resurrection Cemetery–on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (2004), was the site of dedication on Juneteenth2017 for a large monument documenting the names of those interred without markers. Professor Elizabeth Sobel (Missouri State University) and students, with significant input from the Fr. Berry and his family, documented the Berry Cemetery between 2009 and 2022, and those materials populate a new website at http://www.berrycem.com/. Notice how each page banner captures a bed covering made by Berry ancestors in the 19th and 20th centuries.
We remain thankful for the opportunity to learn from Fr. Berry in person and send our sincerest condolences to his wife, children, congregation, friends, and all who love him.
The Springfield News-Leader published a profile on Fr. Berry on January 13, 2024 here https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/2024/01/13/father-moses-berry-historian-and-founder-of-ozarks-museum-dies/72216537007/