Anne Moody honored with Freedom Trail marker

by Mississippi Monitor | Sep 17, 2025 | Capital/River
By: Roscoe Barnes III, Visit Natchez

(Click on image to enlarge.)

A Mississippi Freedom Trail marker honoring Anne Moody now stands in front of the church she attended – and wrote about – in her memoir, “Coming of Age in Mississippi.’'

The marker, which was unveiled Monday, September 15, is located on the northside of Highway 24 at Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, 8755 Highway 24 East, Centreville. It is the first and only Freedom Trail marker installed in Wilkinson County.

About 80 people turned out for the ceremony that paid tribute to Moody as a civil rights activist, warrior for social justice, and respected author, whose memoir has remained in print since it was first published in December 1968.

Rev. Reginald M. Buckley, the guest speaker, said Moody’s Freedom Trail marker will stand as “a testimony of the importance of memory itself.”

“This marker is more than mere words inscribed upon metal,” Buckley said. He noted the marker is “a reminder, a storyteller, a sanctified witness that will speak to generations long after we have left this place.”

Rev. Fred Moody Jr., brother of Anne Moody, reads the inscription on the Mississippi Freedom Trail marker erected in her honor. The marker was unveiled in a ceremony Monday, September 15, at Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church in Centreville. Fred Moody is mentioned throughout Anne Moody's "Coming of Age in Mississippi." Photo by Roscoe Barnes III (Click on image to enlarge.)

The day’s program, which was held at Mount Pleasant, featured music by the Mount Pleasant Church Choir and inspiring messages from prominent leaders that included the Rev. LeReginald Jones, pastor of Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church; Dr. Donzell Lee, president of Tougaloo College; Rep. Angela Cockerham, District 96; Rev. Fred Moody Jr., brother of Anne Moody; Dr. Daphne Chamberlain, chief program officer at the Emmett Till Interpretive Center; John Spann, program and outreach officer at the Mississippi Humanities Council; Rev. Larry Lee, pastor of Winans Chapel C.M.E. Church; and Senator Gary L. Brumfield, District 38.
 
Members of Anne Moody’s family attended the program, along with elected officials, pastors from across the state, and visitors from Natchez.
 
Buckley said it is important to remember Anne Moody as a bold and brilliant storyteller. He said she was a teller of an inconvenient story and uncomfortable truth.
 
Anne Moody, he said, told a “story that pulled back the blood-soaked veil and exposed the heart-wrenching reality of life for black people in the American South, specifically, Mississippi. She told a story that was difficult to hear in a culture that was not welcoming of her voice, not receptive to her perspective and in many instances, not even caring of her truth.”
 
All of the presenters spoke about the importance of Anne Moody’s contribution to the state’s history.
 
Jones recounted the history of Mount Pleasant and its role in Anne Moody’s life. The church, he said, has been a place that served as a school and community center for Black families. It was also a place that helped to develop “some theological thought, birth agents of change, great preachers, and great orators, agents of change and justice, like our celebrated native daughter, Ms. Anne Moody.”
 
According to Donzell Lee, Anne Moody was “a young lady of tremendous courage and tremendous foresight, who put herself in harm’s way at the forefront of civil rights in her day.”
 
Cockerham commented on the inspirational elements of Anne Moody’s life.
 
“Miss Moody’s acts of love, faith, and courage, remind us that the best lies deep within us,” she said. “Her life serves as an example to embrace God’s purpose for our lives no matter how difficult the journey gets, because God is always with us, and I have no doubt in my mind that God created and anointed Miss Moody for such a time.”
 
Fred Moody, Anne Moody’s brother, is mentioned throughout her book, along with their sister, Adline Moody, whom Fred Moody introduced at the ceremony. Both he and Adline Moody expressed gratitude for the day’s program. Fred Moody drew laughs when he told how he burned down the family’s house as a child. The story is captured in “Coming of Age in Mississippi.”
 
Chamberlain, a former history professor at Tougaloo College, told of how Anne Moody’s memoir affected her personally. She said Anne Moody’s work helped her to see the past and present “a little clearer.”
 
“Her activism made me stand a lot taller,” she said. “Her bravery made me this quiet little Black girl in Columbus, Mississippi, be a little bolder. Anne Moody’s legacy has influenced more than just me. It has touched readers locally and readers from all around the world.”
 
Spann, representing the Mississippi Humanities Council, acknowledged the assistance of U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson in securing federal funds for the Freedom Trail markers. He said because of Thompson’s help, among others, the markers are free to communities across the state. “We have more than doubled the size of the Freedom Trail, taking it from 30 to 64 in just two years,” he said.
 
Brumfield gave the closing remarks. He said Anne Moody presented a story that resonates with many people. “She gives me courage to think that she thought outside the box. It’s ok to be different as long as you are making a difference.”
 
The Freedom Trail markers are administered by the Mississippi Humanities Council, in partnership with Visit Mississippi. They commemorate the people and places in the state that played important roles in the American Civil Rights Movement.
 
See more at this link: https://www.themississippimonitor.com/anne-moody-honored-with-freedom-trail-marker/