Modena Lowrey Berry

Modena Lowrey Berry (November 16, 1850 – January 31, 1942) was cofounder of the Blue Mountain Female Institute in Blue Mountain, Mississippi in 1873 and served as a faculty member and vice president of the institute for the next 61 years.

Biography Modena Lowrey was born November 16, 1850, in Farmington, Mississippi to Mark Perrin Lowrey and Sarah Holmes Lowrey and was the eldest of eleven children. That same year, Modena's father purchased the Brougher estate in Blue Mountain, Mississippi. In 1871, Modena and her sister Margaret enrolled at Baptist Female College in Pontotoc, Mississippi and graduated in 1873. Upon returning home to Blue Mountain, the sisters and their father cofounded Blue Mountain Female Institute in 1873 on the site of the Brougher plantation and used the plantation home to board female students.

Modena Berry became the second woman in state history to be inducted into the Mississippi Hall of Fame to honor her significant contributions to the state. Her portrait is on display in Mississippi's Old Capitol Museum in Jackson.