In the mid 1800s, Frank Berry was a skilled and capable bricklayer. He helped build the Meridian City Hall, the courthouse, which is presently in use, the old city and county jails and many other local business buildings. He also worked on the court house in Livingston, Ala. Unfortunately, while Berry was working on the three-story Citizens Bank Building, the scaffolds collapsed and he fell to the ground sustaining a permanent crippling injury to his right leg.

In 1882, he saw a need for a funeral home to give full-service to the black community. Prior to that time, black citizens had to go in and out of the back doors of white funeral homes with their loved ones. Thanks to Frank Berry, Blacks could proudly use the front doors and get proper service. After Mississippi required a license to embalm, he became the first licensed black embalmer (copy of license #64 shown in gallery) and established the first black funeral home at 2513 Fifth Street in downtown Meridian, Miss.