Gregory, Bern, 1914-

Born on September 29, 1914 in Alton, Illinois, Bern Gregory was educated in St. Louis public schools through high school. Living near the packing house area of North St. Louis, Gregory developed an interest in cowboys and rodeos. In 1935 he began work as a messenger boy in the freight traffic department of the Missouri Pacific Railroad from which he worked his way to becoming a general freight agent. In 1942 he joined the Cowboy Turtles Association and in 1943 he was inducted into the Army. After the war in September 1945 he helped organize what might have been the first armed forces rodeo in Europe sponsored by the Red Cross at Furth Germany. Gregory married Mary Harman on June 29, 1946 who was a private duty nurse. Around 1955 the couple began taking rodeo photography vacations. By 1958 Gregory had sold his first action photographs to stock contractor, Tommy Steiner. Upon buying a house in Black Jack, Missouri in 1968, Gregory built his first darkroom. After his retirement from the Missouri Pacific Railroad on April 30, 1975, he devoted more time to rodeo photography. Following Mary's death after a long battle with cancer on August 21, 1998, Gregory moved to Flourissant, Missouri.

From the description of Bern Gregory rodeo photographs, 1958-1988. (National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum). WorldCat record id: 58795223