Southside Virginia’s 100-year-old Edith Younger Edmunds is a woman of many talents.
But there's one thing she's yet to pull off: Being in two places at once.
On June 26, works by the Halifax County native and lifelong quilter were honored in two events hundreds of miles apart.
One was in Richmond, and the other in Chicago.
Edith Younger Edmunds, author of “Secret Stitches: An Underground Railroad Activity Book for Children and Adults,” interacts with visitors June 26 at the Virginia Folklife Program during the Virginia Museum of History & Culture’s four-night presentation of America’s 250 IllumiNATION.
She enlisted the help of her son for the Midwest trip while she and her daughter, Amy Edmunds, were guests for the Virginia Folklife Program during the Virginia Museum of History & Culture's four-night presentation of America's 250 IllumiNATION.
The mother-daughter duo has already earned international acclaim for “Secret Stitches: An Underground Railroad Activity Book for Children and Adults,” a book that explains symbols of the network of secret paths enslaved African Americans used to find freedom.
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The elder Edmunds made her first one when she was only 7 years old with her twin sister, Earle.
She still stitches most days, even though she'll turn 101 in August.
One of her quilts is from 1954, commemorating when her family moved into a new home. Others show the different techniques used before motorized sewing machines became mainstream.
Amy Edmunds sells her mother’s book “Secret Stitches: An Underground Railroad Activity Book for Children and Adults” on June 26 at the Virginia Folklife Program during the Virginia Museum of History & Culture’s four-night presentation of America’s 250 IllumiNATION.
She often uses her quilts to show the coded patterns that guided enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad.
“Every day, I pray for strength,” the centaurian said in a statement.
She continues to showcase her faith, creativity and love of passing along African American history with her works and words.
The Richmond program invited the pair to take part in a segment called “Celebrating African American Quilters: Preserving History through Their Stories.”
The segment also included what was described as a cultural demonstration by the Kuumba African American Quilt Guild of Richmond.
The pandemic brought Amy back to her childhood home in Halifax, which started a new connection for the pair that eventually led to a mission of storytelling.
“Born in 1925, Edmunds descends from generations of families connected to the region, including ancestors whose lives were shaped by slavery, emancipation, and the enduring pursuit of freedom,” a previous news release stated. “Through quilting, storytelling, and authorship, she has dedicated her work to preserving the cultural significance of Underground Railroad quilt symbols and their role in African American heritage.”
Edith Younger Edmunds interacts during a presentation June 26 at the Virginia Folklife Program during the Virginia Museum of History & Culture’s four-night presentation of America’s 250 IllumiNATION.
While she was in Richmond, Eddie Edmunds stood in for his mother in Chicago’s Newberry Library, where the book earned the 2026 Next Generation Indie Book Award for best activity book (all ages).
The honor was announced in May, and the award was presented last month.
There’s also another book — “Sacred Stitches” — that was created as a companion volume.
