bertha lee moore harper
1933-2015
Life Story
Early Life in Lawrence
Bertha Lee Moore Harper was born on March 31, 1933, in the Lawrence community of Newton County, Mississippi. She was the youngest daughter of Gilbert Moore and Tennie Currie Moore and grew up during the difficult years of the Great Depression.
Raised in Beat 4 of Newton County, Bertha spent her childhood surrounded by an extensive network of relatives whose roots stretched deep into the history of the Lawrence community. Her father worked to support the family, while her mother maintained a household that often included multiple generations of relatives.
The 1940 census records seven-year-old Bertha living with her parents and older siblings, Otis and Hattie. Like many children growing up in rural Mississippi, she experienced a close-knit community where family members, neighbors, and church connections formed the foundation of everyday life.
Education and Family Life
Education remained important within the Moore household despite the economic hardships of the era.
By 1950, Bertha was a seventeen-year-old high school student still residing with her parents in Lawrence. The household reflected the strong family bonds that characterized many African American families in Newton County. Living under one roof were Bertha’s parents, her sister Mattie Mae Evans and brother-in-law George Evans, several nieces and nephews, and relatives connected through the Thompson family.
Growing up in this multigenerational environment taught Bertha the values of cooperation, family responsibility, and mutual support that would guide her throughout her life.
Marriage and Life in Jackson
As a young woman, Bertha left rural Newton County and moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where she began a new chapter of her life.
She married Lessie V. Harper, and together they established a home in Mississippi’s capital city. By 1959, city directories place the couple at 3371 Center Street in Jackson.
Soon afterward, they settled at 3505 Holmes Avenue, a residence that would remain closely associated with Bertha for decades. Through periods of tremendous social and economic change, Holmes Avenue served as the center of her adult life and a place of stability and continuity.
A Life Rooted in Mississippi
Although she left Newton County as a young adult, Bertha never lost her connection to the family and community that shaped her.
She remained closely tied to her Moore relatives and was remembered among the surviving children of Gilbert Moore when his passing was recorded in local newspapers. Like many members of her generation, she balanced the traditions of her rural upbringing with the opportunities and challenges of urban life.
Public records indicate that she spent a brief period residing in Canton, Mississippi, around the turn of the twenty-first century, but Jackson remained her primary home for most of her adult life.
Death and Burial
Bertha Lee Moore Harper passed away on May 9, 2015, at the age of eighty-two at Merit Health Central Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi.
Funeral services were held at New Hope Baptist Church on Hamilton Street in Jackson. Family and friends gathered to celebrate a life that spanned more than eight decades, from the rural roads of Newton County to the neighborhoods of Mississippi’s capital city.
Following the service, Bertha was laid to rest in Taylor Hill Church Cemetery in Braxton, Mississippi, returning to the soil of her native state.
Legacy
Bertha Lee Moore Harper represented the final generation of children raised in the household of Gilbert and Tennie Moore in Lawrence, Mississippi.
Her life bridged two worlds: the rural farming community of her childhood and the growing urban landscape of Jackson. Through those transitions, she carried with her the values instilled by her family—faith, perseverance, hard work, and devotion to kin.
Though much of her life was lived quietly outside the public spotlight, her story reflects the experiences of countless African American women whose strength and determination helped sustain their families and communities through some of the most significant changes in American history.
Her legacy remains intertwined with the enduring story of the Moore family of Newton County.
Resting Place
Taylor Hill Church Cemetery, Braxton, MS
Photos/Albums
Sources
- 1940 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, household of Gilbert Moore.
- 1950 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Lawrence-Conehatta Road, household of Gilbert Moore.
- Jackson, Mississippi, City Directory, 1959, listing Lessie V. Harper and Bertha Harper at 3371 Center Street.
- Jackson, Mississippi, city and residence records, 1960–2010, Holmes Avenue address.
- Scott County Times, obituary of Gilbert Moore, listing surviving daughter Bertha Harper.
- Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Mississippi), death notice for Bertha Lee Harper, May 2015.
- Burial records, Braxton, Simpson County, Mississippi.
- Family records identifying Bertha Lee Moore Harper as the daughter of Gilbert Moore and Tennie Currie Moore and wife of Lessie V. Harper.
- Bertha L. Harper,” death notice, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS), May 15, 2015, announcing funeral services for Bertha Lee Moore Harper; Collins Funeral Home, Jackson, Mississippi.
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