Grave Matters

W.B. William H. Sparks, III portraying W.B. Hollis during the Friends of Historic Forest Grove’s Grave Matters cemetery tour.

Alexis Abdullah Ben Kori was born in what is modern-day Lebanon and was an excellent scholar who immigrated to the United States. He moved to Forest Grove to become a professor of Modern Languages at Pacific University from 1906 to 1913. Professor Ben Kori was an active community member and a popular speaker around town and with ties to the local Congregational Church and Masons. While on leave of absence from Pacific, he got caught up in World War I, where he served in the French Army and translated for President Woodrow Wilson at the Treaty of Versailles.

I want to thank the Grand Lodge for their exceptional support in this endeavor, most notably M.W.B. Mark Posler for allowing me to wear an apron for the performance, and to my great friend, Grand Historian W.B. Johnny Edwards, for his inspiration and help to point me in the right direction. The Richmond Library and Museum was a fabulous source of research material, without which I could not have contributed to this event.

Fraternally, W.B. William H. Sparks, III Photos courtesy of Friends of Historic Forest Grove.

See W.B. Sparks’ portrayal of W.B. Hollis on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pb3SP0wArCQ