Hand-Hewn
The furniture in the museum's collection shows the high quality of good crafted and owned by African Americans in the Ozarks. Even the most simple functional items, like the cherry wood rocking chair, are so well made that their looks bely their 100 years. Much of the furniture was originally owned by William Berry, husband of Caroline Boone Berry, both of whom were born into slavery. The furniture was used in the house they built in Ash Grove, Missouri in 1873 and has been used in the Berry family ever since.