The Berry Cemetery was most actively used as an interment site from 1880 to 1930. During this period, Ash Grove’s Black population was at its height due to local employment opportunities. The Ash Grove White Lime company operated a quarry and plant in Ash Grove, and hired scores of Black men to work there, between 1880 and 1930. During this period, Ash Grove’s Black population totaled some 200 to 300 individuals, at the time one of the largest Black communities in the area.
The Berry Cemetery was vital to this community, as most private and public cemeteries in the region did not accept African Americans until the 1960s. Indeed, the first burial of a Black person in the Ash Grove town cemetery took place in the 1980s. Thus, well into the 20th century, the Berry Cemetery met vital practical and spiritual needs of the area’s Black community. Importantly, the Berry family managed the cemetery to serve not only the Black population but also other disempowered groups; a remarkable 1910 document is evidence of this inclusiveness, stating that the Berry Cemetery was “established for the burial of slaves, Indians, and paupers” (Berry and Berry 2002). |
By the 1980s, the Berry Cemetery was in disrepair, as the two elderly Berry family members remaining in Ash Grove did not have the resources to effectively maintain the graveyard. In 1995, Fr. Moses Berry, who was raised in Ash Grove and is a great grandson of Caroline and William Berry, inherited the farm and cemetery. In 1998, with his wife and children, Moses returned and set about restoring the cemetery. Through much labor and at great expense, and with help from a variety of donors and volunteers, Moses and his family cleared brush, repaired and re-set markers, and installed a small chapel in the cemetery.
In 2004, the cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2006, Unexpected Joy Eastern Orthodox Church, under the leadership of Fr. Berry, consecrated the cemetery as Holy Resurrection Cemetery, although the historic name “Berry Cemetery” is also still appropriate. The cemetery has since served as a burial ground for church members, regardless of race, as well as a burial ground for descendants of Ash Grove’s historic Black community. More recently, on June 19th (Juneteenth) 2017, a large stone monument commemorating individuals interred in unmarked graves was installed and dedicated at the Berry Cemetery. Today, Fr. Moses, his wife Magdalena, and immediate and extended family members continue to manage the Berry Cemetery. However, age and health factors, as well as personal and professional obligations, limit the ability of this one family to preserve and interpret this valuable resource. Thus, donations and volunteerism remain essential to maintenance, restoration, conservation, and interpretation of the Berry Cemetery.
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The Berry cemetery is significant to a variety of communities and audiences. For descendants, the public, heritage professionals, and scholars, the burial ground is important for its contributions to more complete, multi-vocal histories at the local and regional scales. Historical narratives of southwest Missouri and the broader Ozarks largely exclude Black experiences, knowledge, and perspectives, particularly when representing rural areas and the Jim Crow era of legalized racial segregation. These exclusions facilitate longstanding white supremacist histories - and by extension white supremacist visions of the present and future - of the Ozarks.
The Berry Cemetery helps counter these biases through its role in communicating the story of a community of African Americans who lived in slavery, were legally emancipated, bought land, and built homes, churches, and schools. Some came from outside the region while others, like Caroline Berry, had local roots. Black community members worked as farmers, industrial laborers, blacksmiths, teamsters, laundresses, domestic servants, and soldiers, and served their community as midwives, teachers, healers, and preachers. When local employment dried up, many left Ash Grove. Others, like the Berry family, stayed, holding onto their land and tending the graves of their ancestors, including many former slaves and their children. As a tangible manifestation of this Black community, the Berry Cemetery is important in countering the biases of dominant local and regional histories.
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