Pearlie Posey

Posey was born in 1894.^[1][2] She was a family-oriented woman who spent her days on a plantation working. Her mother, before her death, and grandmother helped her learn to quilt. ^[3] She taught her quilting technique to her daughter Sarah Mary Taylor and eventually created templates for Taylor's quilts.^[4] Posey’s quilts often featured human and animal figures, reflecting African American storytelling traditions and the passing down of quilting through generations. ^[4] Quilting during Posey’s time was commonly viewed as a domestic craft rather than a form of fine art. ^[3]

Her work is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art^[5] and the American Folk Art Museum.^[6] Her work was included in the 2008-2009 traveling exhibition entitled Ancestry & Innovation: African American Art from the American Folk Art Museum presented by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.^[2] She was included in the 2009 exhibition Quilt Stories: The Ella King Torrey Collection of African American Quilts and Other Recent Quilt Acquisitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.^[7]

Posey died in 1984.^[5]