Barbara Fertig

Barbara Fertig,90, of Ridgeland, SC passed away on October 15, 2024. She was born on July 15,1934, in Williamsville, New York, the only child of Mary and Russell Conway.  After graduating with a degree in fine art from Skidmore College, she became the director of the Oyster Ponds Historical Society in Orient, New York.  She moved to Washington, DC where she did research for the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and worked at the National Textile Museum.  Upon completing a doctorate in American Civilization at George Washington University, in 1992 she accepted a joint appointment at Armstrong State College and the Coastal Heritage Society, where she served as the curator for the Savannah History Museum.  Fertig worked to preserve the folklife and oral histories of African American communities, particularly the people of Pin Point.  At Armstrong she trained museum professionals who work throughout Coastal Georgia and at institutions from Florida to New York and as far west as Colorado.  She is predeceased by one daughter, Elizabeth Fertig of Washington, DC, and survived by another, Carrie Fertig of Laurencekirk, Scotland.  Her life is celebrated by friends, neighbors, and former students.

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