Fannie “Pearl” Etheridge is a community scholar on the legacy of the Freedom Quilting Bee (FQB) and quilting traditions of African American quilters from Black Belt Alabama. Pearl has resided in Alberta, Alabama for over 57 years and has been sewing for over 40 years. As a young child Pearl would assist her aunt with quilting but really blossomed when she joined the FQB in 1996.
Pearl served in the capacity of FQB Coop Manager from 2006 to 2010. Since 2011, she has served as the State Liaison Coordinator for the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative’s Southern Journeys Sewing Cooperative, a worker-owned social enterprise spanning rural counties in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi.
Pearl loves to share stories of sisterhood, solidarity, and self-determination from living and loving through two decades with the FQB. She is committed to preserving both the quilting traditions and artistic innovations of Black Belt Alabama.
Pearl served in the capacity of FQB Coop Manager from 2006 to 2010. Since 2011, she has served as the State Liaison Coordinator for the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative’s Southern Journeys Sewing Cooperative, a worker-owned social enterprise spanning rural counties in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi.
Pearl loves to share stories of sisterhood, solidarity, and self-determination from living and loving through two decades with the FQB. She is committed to preserving both the quilting traditions and artistic innovations of Black Belt Alabama.
