Old Salem
Museums & Gardens a biannual magazine for friends and supporters | spring 2o15
celebrating 5o years
special edition celebrating mesda’s 5oth anniversary
2o14 – 2o15 board of trustees
old salem museums & gardens 6oo south main street winston-salem, north carolina 271o1 oldsalem.org | phone 336-721-735o | fax 336-721-7335
Old Salem Museums & Gardens consists of three museums: The Historic Town of Salem is a restored Moravian congregation town dating back to 1766, with costumed interpreters bringing the late-18th and early-19th centuries to life. Restored original buildings, faithful reconstructions, and historically accurate gardens and landscapes make the Historic Town of Salem one of America’s most authentic historical attractions. The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) collects, exhibits, researches, and educates the public about the decorative arts made and used by people living and working in Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, from the 17th century to the beginning of the Civil War. The Gardens of Old Salem are award-winning restorations that create a landscape reminiscent of early Salem where utility, practicality, and beauty are united. The gardens are authentically planted with open pollinated heirlooms that have been propagated from the museum’s heritage seed saving program.
Ms. Judy Lambeth, Chair Ms. Chris Minter-Dowd, Vice Chair Mr. Hayes Wauford, Jr., Treasurer Mrs. Ann A. Johnston, Secretary Ms. Betsy J. Annese Dr. Anthony Atala Mr. Nicholas B. Bragg Mr. Michael Ernst Mr. Paul Fulton, Jr. Mr. W. Ted Gossett Mr. James A. Gray, III Mr. Robert E. Greene Dr. Edward G. Hill Mr. Henry H. Jordan, II Mr. Joseph P. Logan Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Mercier Mrs. Erika Mielke Mrs. Paulette J. Morant Count Christoph Nostitz Ms. Margaret Beck Pritchard Dr. Thomas H. Sears, Jr. Mr. Daniel R. Taylor, Jr. Mrs. Margaret D. Townsend Mr. Ralph Womble Mr. Philip Zea
ex-officio members Mr. Franklin C. Kane Ms. Molly A. Leight Mr. C. Tracey Parks Dr. D. E. Lorraine Sterritt
celebrating 5o years
This publication is produced by Old Salem Museums & Gardens, which is operated by Old Salem, Inc., a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit educational corporation organized in 1950 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Old Salem Museums & Gardens logo and name are registered trademarks, and may not be used by outside parties without permission. © 2015 Old Salem Museums & Gardens Produced by Capture Public Relations & Marketing Editorial Support by Tyler Cox
OFFICERS Ragan P. Folan President & CEO Anthony Slater Interim CFO Frances Beasley Vice President Development John C. Larson Vice President Restoration Robert A. Leath Vice President Collections & Research Paula Locklair Vice President Education
Contents
spring 2o15 | volume 1o | number 1
1 2 4 9 1o 12 16 18 2o 21 22 24 28 29
From the President MESDA: 5o Year Timeline 5o Years of MESDA: A Colorful Past, A Brighter Future Old Salem Capital Campaign MESDA Gallery Renovations Making MESDA More Accurate and More Beautiful New Galleries, New Options: Masterworks and Ceramics Digitizing the MESDA Research Databases Distinguished Alumni, Proven Results: MESDA Summer Institute MESDA Summer Institute Graduates MESDA Advisory Board Celebrating 5o Years of MESDA News & Notes from Old Salem Pillars of Our Community Calendar of Events
Cover photo: Tea Table by Robert Walker, King George County, Virginia, 1750-1760; Given in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Worsham Dew by Mr. and Mrs. John T. Warmath. Quilt by Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley, Southampton County, Virginia, 1846; Gift of Julia Ridley Smith and Moreland Tyler Smith. Image at left: Militia Banner, New Market, Virginia, 1799; Gift of Frank L. Horton.
Find Inspiration for Your Garden at
the Garden Shop at
t. bagge merchant
626 S. Main Street · Winston- Salem Featuring heirloom plants grown by Old Salem’s Horticulture staff, seeds, pots, windchimes, decorative items, and much more.
oldsalem.org
336-721-735o
Letter from the President
A Man, His Mother, and a Museum… Dear Friends, In this special issue of the Old Salem magazine, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) and have dedicated the majority of the magazine to articles about this internationally renowned museum, which houses an unparalleled collection of early Southern furniture, ceramics, silver, paintings, textiles, and other decorative arts. The creation of MESDA started with two remarkable individuals, Frank Horton and his mother Theodosia “Theo” Taliaferro, who had a vision to create a museum solely dedicated to the preservation, scholarship, and connoisseurship of southern decorative arts and material culture. Spurred on by a growing groundswell to challenge the dismissive attitude of many scholars and collectors of the first half of the 20th century towards southern decorative arts, Frank and Theo realized their dream when MESDA opened to the public on January 4, 1965. Their efforts not only resulted in the museum but also launched a movement that celebrates and honors southern decorative arts. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to them, and to a close circle of key individuals who were instrumental in helping get MESDA up and running in the early days. People such as Ralph and Dewitt Hanes, Tom and Anne Gray (Frank’s cousins), Gordon and Copey Hanes, and Wilson Douglas of Winston-Salem, North Carolina; James and Betty Lynch of High Point, North Carolina; and George and Linda Kaufman of Norfolk, Virginia. In addition, there was a large cast of friends, collectors, dealers, conservators, and museum professionals too numerous to name, but whose support of MESDA and its mission was instrumental to its early success. Today, the circle of supporters has grown to include alumni of the Summer Institute, members of the MESDA Advisory Board, Friends of MESDA, and so many more. We can’t thank you all enough for your support. Housed in what was once a Kroger Supermarket on the south end of Salem’s historic district, MESDA has expanded well beyond the exhibition of the collection to include groundbreaking field research programs, award-winning publications, a respected research center and decorative arts library, and exceptional educational programs such as the Graduate Summer Institute cosponsored by MESDA and the University of Virginia. You can read about the exciting developments in all these areas in this issue of the magazine. It is also important to note that in addition to being the 50th anniversary of MESDA, 2015 also marks the 150th anniversary of the announcement of freedom to the African American community
in Salem. From the pulpit in St. Philips African Moravian Church in Salem on May 21, 1865, Rev. Seth G. Clark, the Chaplain of the 10th Ohio Cavalry, read the orders that announced the abolition of slavery. This momentous occasion is being celebrated at several events throughout the year including a reading of the order in St. Philips at the Spring Festival on May 16. I hope you will join us for what is sure to be a moving occasion. We hope you will join us at MESDA throughout the year and particularly the 50th Anniversary Celebration weekend on October 23–24. You can find out more about the weekend on page 22. And since we are talking anniversaries, mark your calendar for 2016, which will be the 250th Anniversary of the founding of Salem. Stay tuned for more information on how we will celebrate! Best,
Ragan Folan President & CEO Old Salem Museums & Gardens old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15 | 1
50 Year Timeline
196os
197os
196o
1972
1972
1978
198o
announcement of mesda plans
inauguration of mesda field & documentary research programs
inaugural issue the MES DA Journal
purchase of john shearer desk & bookcase
first issue of MES DA Luminary
Acquisition of the Kroger grocery building to house the collection
january 4, 1965 mesda opens
Brad Rauschenberg and Frank Horton John F. Bivins, Editor, MESDA Journal & Luminary
1973 mesda’s north wing groundbreaking
Members of MESDA program established.
1984 Highest price paid for southern object at major New York auction
gift of charleston lady’s closet
1976 mesda summer institute established
Curator Carolyn Weekley
1967
1975
january Antiques Magazine features mesda
north wing opens
Research Associate Luke Beckerdite and Frank Horton Institute founders Dr. Jean Gordon and MESDA Education Coordinator Jan Hind with members of the 1976 Institute
1978 installation of cherry grove rooms
Exhibition & Catalog “The Swisegood School of Cabinetmkaing” Frank L. Horton, Carolyn Weekley, Curators
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1986 west wing opening of cherry grove & charleston rooms
Milestones in Collecting, Exhibiting, Researching, Publishing & Educating 198os
199os
2ooos
1986
199o
1993
2oo1
2o1o
establishment of summer institute horton fellowship fund
25th anniversary exhibition
acquisition of william buckland sideboard table
mesda advisory board established
mesda conference on the road
Charter Members of the MESDA Advisory Board
Hosted by the MadisonMorgan Cultural Center, Madison, Georgia
1994
Institute alumni and Sally Gant honor Frank Horton
the pottery of the shenandoah valley region
1988 establishment of frank l. horton publications fund
“MESDA and the Private Collector�
2oo3 publication of The Furniture of Charleston 169o-182o
2o11 online MES DA Journal launched
1991 The Regional Arts of the Early South
Tom Gray and Copey Hanes present a gift to Frank Horton
1996
1988-1989
neoclassical wing rooms installed
first horton series publications Authors: John Bivins and Forsyth Alexander
Authors Bradford L. Rauschenberg and John Bivins
2oo4 frank horton 1918-2oo4
2o13
1993
opening of anne p. & thomas a. gray library & mesda research center
Donors Bill Griffin and Paul Hawkins with Frank Horton
first mesda furniture seminar
1998
1989
frank l. horton center dedication
gift of robert walker tea table
2oo7 mesda at the new york winter antiques show
Mack Headley, workshop presenter
John Bivins, Frank Horton, Ridley Tyler Smith, and Mrs. John T. Warmath
1998 mesda gordon conference established old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15 | 3
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A Colorful Past,
a brighter future
above: pocomoke hall in 1965 left: pocomoke hall today by robert a. leath
In 2008, MESDA launched an eight-year plan to bring its galleries into the 21st century. After almost 50 years, wallpapers and window draperies that had once been state-of-the-art had faded, paint that was fresh when the museum first opened in 1965 was dull, and an antiquated fluorescent lighting system from the 1970s made public tours an admittedly dark experience. It was time to give the museum a curatorial facelift, incorporating the latest in modern museum design and the best in historic period practice to get MESDA ready for its next 50 years of successful operation. old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15 | 5
Our first phone call was to designer Ralph Harvard. Based in New York but born in Richmond and partly raised on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Ralph is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture with an advanced degree in interior design. His passion for early southern decorative arts is legendary, advising private clients on the interiors of many of the best historic houses from Annapolis to Charleston. His passion for MESDA is equally enthusiastic. As a MESDA Advisory Board Member, Ralph gladly took our call and said immediately, “how can I help?” First, we assembled a team of recognized experts from across the Southeast who were prepared to help MESDA curators replace worn-out window curtains, repaint rooms according to the best historic evidence, and, most importantly, to make the public’s experience brighter and more colorful than it had ever been. After seven years, the results have been dramatic. Working with Miami-based designer Herbert Brito, we selected a new lighting system that provided the museum with necessary options. First, it was cost effective and could be installed one room at a time as gallery renovations progressed. Second, it was object sensitive and included motion sensors to make each room’s lights come on and off as public tours come and go, keeping the collections in dimly lit, almost storage-like conditions when no one is in the room. With new lighting came new paint colors. Ralph selected a vibrant palette for the museum’s modern galleries with nothing pale or pallid, but instead vibrant blues, reds, oranges, greens, and yellows. In some cases, the modern gallery colors were based on authentic historic prototypes, such as the turquoise blue selected for the Charleston Neoclassical Gallery that copies the very color discovered on original wallpaper in the Nathaniel Russell House Dining Room in Charleston.
top row: ralph harvard; painting the edenton rooms in progress above: charleston neoclassical gallery opposite page: courtland room with new wallpaper
We assembled a team of recognized experts from across the Southeast who were prepared to help MESDA curators replace worn-out window curtains, repaint rooms according to the best historic evidence, and, most importantly, to make the public’s experience brighter and more colorful than it had ever been. After seven years, the results have been dramatic. 6 | old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15
By 2009, the historic paint evidence from MESDA’s period rooms was ready for implementation. Susan Buck, the nation’s leading historic paint analyst, had carefully sampled and tested each room, identifying its original color. Her findings created a few stunning transformations. The Pocomoke Room, for example, had been painted a pleasant combination of red and blue in 1965; however, this was revealed to be inaccurate. In the 18th century, when the house was first built on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the room had indeed been painted red, and it had also been blue, but it was never both red and blue at the same time. Curators bit the bullet and returned the room to its original circa 1730 shade of bold red, proving that 18th- and 19thcentury paint colors were rarely drab and dull. Under sympathetic lighting, these historically accurate paint colors called for equally appropriate textiles for the museum’s furniture and window treatments. Leroy Graves and Natalie Larson rose to the challenge helping MESDA select the best, most historically accurate fabrics on the market today, and installing them according to the latest and best historical research. Leroy Graves has completed non-invasive upholstery conservation treatment on a pair of Virginia backstools, a Charleston-made easy chair and arm chair, and—as we speak—is completing a Charleston-made neoclassical sofa. With Natalie Larson’s help, window frames, easy chairs, back stools, and slip seats came to life with vibrant new colors, patterns, and textures.
By 2009, the historic paint evidence from MESDA’s period rooms was ready for implementation. Susan Buck, the nation’s leading historic paint analyst, had carefully sampled and tested each room, identifying its original color. Her findings created a few stunning transformations. For historically accurate wallpaper, Colonial Williamsburg curator of prints, maps, and wallpaper, and Old Salem trustee Margaret Pritchard went above and beyond the call of duty. The Courtland Room was built around 1810 in Southampton County, Virginia, so Margaret selected a geometric wallpaper that was firmly documented as sold in Baltimore in the early 19th century. Adelphi Paper Hangings reproduced the paper, and when it arrived, Margaret rolled up her sleeves and personally supervised its installation, making sure that every seam was precisely perfect.
old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15 | 7
MESDA is poised to complete 30 gallery renovations in time for its 50th anniversary celebration in October. Fully renovated, the museum will be able to meet the needs of a modern, diverse audience in brand new ways.
One of the most exciting projects is the White Hall Dining Room. Slated for completion this summer, this dramatic room now features one of MESDA’s most important objects—the original hand-painted scenic wallpaper that once graced an 1840s plantation house in Columbia County, Georgia, outside Augusta. It was saved by the late Dewitt and Ralph Hanes in the 1930s and used in their WinstonSalem house until they generously gave it to MESDA in the 1970s. With a grant from the Richard C. von Hess Foundation, the room has been conserved with museum-quality lighting and historically accurate paint on its elegant woodwork, providing a perfect backdrop for the paper’s fanciful scenery and the many stories it tells. Today, MESDA is poised to complete 30 gallery renovations in time for its 50th anniversary celebration in October. Fully renovated, the museum will be able to meet the needs of a modern, diverse audience in brand new ways. Tours can be selected by visitors to last from 45 minutes to an hour or two hours based on their own
above: white hall dining room
needs and interests. MESDA offers general tours of its extensive collection or focused study tours on specific topics, such as the lives of early southern women or the role of African-American slaves in early southern decorative arts and material culture. Customized tours booked in advance are available for visitors to see only the rooms and objects that they want to see. In October, MESDA commemorates its first 50 years of operation, but the museum’s work is never complete. New paint colors and light fixtures, new wallpapers and fabrics prove that we can all celebrate a very colorful southern past, and look forward to an even brighter future.
left: backcountry gallery
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old salem museums & gardens
Oncapital Common Ground campaign MESDA Gallery Renovations Goal: $1,100,000
The William C. and Susan S. Mariner Southern Ceramics Gallery Mr. and Mrs. William C. Mariner The Carolyn and Mike McNamara Southern Masterworks Gallery Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. McNamara Accomack Parlor MARPAT Foundation of Washington, D.C. Arms and Metals Gallery Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. McNamara Backcountry Gallery The Fred and Sara Hoyt Charitable Trust Catawba Chamber The Fred and Sara Hoyt Charitable Trust Catawba Parlor Mrs. Mary E.S. Hanahan Charleston Colonial Gallery Mrs. Mary E.S. Hanahan Charleston Neoclassical Gallery Mrs. Mary E.S. Hanahan Charleston Parlor The Charleston Art and Antiques Forum Mr. and Mrs. Robert Prioleau Cherry Grove Rooms MARPAT Foundation of Washington, D.C. Chowan Gallery Mr. and Mrs. Fred Mercier Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Montag Courtland Parlor MARPAT Foundation of Washington, D.C. Ms. Margaret Beck Pritchard Early Settlement Gallery Mr. and Mrs. Bruce H. Knowles
Edenton Passage Mrs. Janet Blocker Mr. W. Ted Gossett The Fred and Sara Hoyt Charitable Trust Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bland Smith Mr. and Mrs. D. Anderson Williams Edenton Parlor Mr. and Mrs. Alfred F. Ritter, Jr. Edgecombe Parlor Mr. W. Ted Gossett
Shenandoah Gallery Mr. C. Rick Chittum Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey S. Evans Dr. and Mrs. David W. Powers Mr. and Mrs. Kurt C. Russ Tennessee Gallery Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Brockman, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Wayne G. Case Mr. and Mrs. J. Roderick Heller, III Mr. and Mrs. C. Tracey Parks
Fraktur Gallery Mr. and Mrs. Barry Sidden
Textile Gallery Anonymous Ms. Kathleen A. Staples
Georgia Parlor Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Montag
Textile Storage and Study Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey S. Evans
Kentucky Gallery Mr. and Mrs. Richard H.C. Clay Dr. Thomas A. Courtenay Mr. and Mrs. J. Macklin Cox Mrs. Jean W. Frazier Mr. and Mrs. Terry H. Lacer
Whitehall Dining Room The Richard C. von Hess Foundation
Landscape Gallery MARPAT Foundation of Washington, D.C. Piedmont Gallery Mr. W. Ted Gossett Pocomoke Gallery MARPAT Foundation of Washington, D.C. Silver Gallery Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Brockman, Jr. Ms. Catherine B. Hollan
Witmer Southern Needlework Gallery Dr. and Mrs. David S. Witmer Lighting and Design Mr. Herbert Brito Ms. Pamela L. Foster Mr. W. Ted Gossett Mr. Thomas A. Gray Ms. S. Revelle Gwyn Mr. Ralph O. Harvard, III Ms. Katherine E. Jarratt Mr. Robert A. Leath Ms. Margaret Beck Pritchard Woman’s Club of Winston-Salem Gallery Donors as of March 12, 2015 old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15 | 9
Making MESDA More Accurate
and More Beautiful
Over the last eight years, MESDA curators have relied on a talented team of experts to help complete gallery renovations. Each is recognized as among the very top in their fields, and their contributions to the effort have been invaluable. Here is a peek at a few of these talented experts and their efforts to help make MESDA more beautiful in the 21st century.
Susan Buck Based in Williamsburg, Virginia, Susan Buck is recognized as the nation’s leading expert on historic paint finishes. Susan’s projects have taken her around the world: from George Washington’s Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello to the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. In 2009, with generous funding from an anonymous donor, Susan began a careful analysis of the original period rooms at MESDA. With a surgeon’s scalpel, she sampled the early paint layers in each room, analyzed each sample under a microscope, identified
the original pigments and binding materials that made the paint, and determined the original colors at the time of each house’s construction. In some cases, the results have been dramatic. The Meherrin Room, for example, was built in the mid 1700s. It went from the tobacco brown it was painted in 1965 to a vibrant yellow ochre, a proper architectural setting for the museum’s outstanding collection of 18th-century Charleston furniture and paintings.
Ruth Cox In 1989, Ruth Cox left her position as a paintings conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to move to North Carolina. Today, she owns and operates her own lab, Painting Conservation, Inc., in Durham and teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. In 2013, she completed the conservation of MESDA’s monumental View of Charleston, by Thomas Leitch in time for former MESDA curator Carolyn Weekley’s exhibit, “Painters and Paintings in the Early American South,” at Colonial Williamsburg. Ruth also has conserved John Hesselius’s 18th-century portrait of Richard Sprigg of Annapolis, Maryland, a gift to MESDA in 1971 by the late Theo Liipfert Taliaferro, and is currently working to complete the conservation of Daniel Ward, by John Wollaston, another generous gift from the museum’s founder, Frank Horton.
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Al Crabtree From their King Street shop in Charleston, South Carolina, Al Crabtree and his wife, Charlotte, provide a cornucopia of services to anyone interested in early southern metals. Their business specializes in southern silver with early Charleston-made pieces taking pride of place on their shelves. Not everyone knows that Al is also an accomplished metals conservator. While Charlotte has attended the MESDA Summer Institute and served on the MESDA Advisory Board, Al has quietly helped curators conserve the museum’s important southern metals collection, everything from silver to copper to brass. In 2012, he completed the conservation of this pair of circa 1790 engraved brass andirons that descended in the Ford family of Black River Plantation in Georgetown County, South Carolina. They are part of a large group of Charleston-related andirons that were first published by former Director of Research Brad Rauschenberg in a 1979 article in the Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts.
Leroy Graves Leroy Graves is universally recognized as the country’s leading expert on period upholstery and a pioneer in the technique of non-invasive upholstery treatments. His methods allow antique furniture to be reupholstered in historically appropriate fabrics, in many cases recreating original brass tacking patterns along the edges, without creating any additional damage to the fragile wooden frames. His method also allows for the upholstery to be removed in minutes to expose exactly how the chair or sofa was originally constructed. A book on Leroy’s upholstery research is in the works at Colonial Williamsburg. Over the last few years, Leroy has completed for MESDA a pair of 18th-century Virginia backstools and an important Charlestonmade French armchair that descended in the Rutledge family of Hampton Plantation. Last year, he completed this elegant upholstered easy chair that descended in the Richard Bohun Baker family of Archdale Hall Plantation. Frank Horton acquired the chair from descendants in 1963, two years before MESDA opened its doors to the public.
Natalie Larson For decades Natalie Larson has carefully studied surviving window and bed treatments in American museum collections. Armed with that encyclopedic knowledge, she is the acknowledged expert on the fabrication of authentic period upholstery treatments that recreate not just the look but also the functionality of how curtains were draped and drawn on rods, poles, pulls, and laths in the period. Her work can be found in major house museums across America, including Mount Vernon, Monticello, Montpelier, the Nathaniel Russell House, and many more. In 2009, Natalie began working with MESDA curators to identify more accurate upholstery textiles for many of the chairs, sofas, and windows in the collection. Among her many projects, last year Natalie completed these double drawn, blue damask curtains made of wool and silk for the Charleston Parlor, a careful reproduction of the Humphrey Sommers Parlor on Tradd Street carved by the late John Bivins and opened to the public in 1986.
Martin O’Brien Winston-Salem based cabinetmaker and furniture conservator Martin O’Brien has been a godsend to MESDA’s furniture collection. Over the last ten years, he has worked closely with the museum’s curators to complete a list of pressing conservation projects. Some have been small, while others have been monumental. In 2012, he undertook a fullscale restoration of this circa 1730 turned chair that descended in the Goldsborough family of Talbot County, Maryland, a gift to the collection by MESDA Advisory Board member Dale Couch in honor of Tom Gray. Like so many early turned chairs, this one had been cut down in size and converted into a rocking chair. Martin carefully removed the rockers, exposing the evidence for a third row of original turned stretchers that he masterfully recreated based on the surviving evidence. old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15 | 11
New galleries, New options: Masterworks
& Ceramics by robert a. leath
Thanks to four generous donors, visitors will soon have new options for how to experience MESDA. Traditionally, seeing the museum’s premier collection of early southern decorative arts involved a guided tour with an experienced and well-trained guide, but in this modern age of cell phones and iPads, many visitors request autonomy, wanting to tour a museum in a more leisurely fashion at their own pace. Beginning in October, thanks to Susan and Bill Mariner and to Carolyn and Mike McNamara, MESDA will meet the needs of these modern museum visitors.
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Combined, the new Carolyn and Mike McNamara Southern Masterworks Gallery and the William C. and Susan S. Mariner Southern Ceramics Gallery will provide visitors with nearly 3,000 square feet of self-guided space, in addition to the 30 study galleries in the traditional museum. These spaces will do more than augment the original rooms. They will assist in transforming the visitor experience. The new gallery will introduce visitors to what MESDA is, how it studies the cultural legacy of the early South through material objects, and explain how these objects can tell stories about our ancestors that a paper document never can. Rounding the corner, they will stand face to face with the John Shearer desk and bookcase. Standing nine feet tall, it is an icon of Backcountry southern cabinetmaking produced in Berkeley County, West Virginia, and signed by its maker 20 times! Turning, they will see the magnificent cabinet-on-chest, or lady’s closet, made in Charleston in the mid-18th century for Anne Loughton Smith, the wife of one of the city’s richest merchants, and the marble-topped sideboard table designed by the British-born architect William Buckland and carved by William Bernard Sears for the dining room at Mount Airy, one of the most ambitious Palladian houses built in colonial America. These are just a few of MESDA’s exceptional objects that will be on exhibit in the new space. facing page: desk and bookcase by john shearer, berkeley county, west virginia, 18o1 and 18o6 ; mesda purchase fund this page, above left: sideboard table by william buckland and william bernard sears, richmond county, virginia, 1761-1771; mesda purchase fund this page, left: mcnamara gallery elevation this page, above: lady’s closet by robert deans and henry burnett, charleston, south carolina, 175o-1755; given in memory of polly and frank myers by mr. and mrs. george kaufman
old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15 | 13
top: needlework map of the united states by emily louisa harper, baltimore, maryland, 1824-1826; gift of g. wilson douglas, jr.
A small vestibule for light-sensitive objects includes a spectacular needlework map of the United States as it appeared in the mid-1820s with state boundaries, capitals, and rivers carefully delineated in silk thread on a gauze background. Given to MESDA in 1995 by the late Wilson Douglas, new research identifies it as the work of Emily Louisa Harper of Baltimore, Maryland, a granddaughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence.
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A small vestibule for light-sensitive objects includes a spectacular needlework map of the United States as it appeared in the mid-1820s with state boundaries, capitals, and rivers carefully delineated in silk thread on a gauze background. Given to MESDA by the late Wilson Douglas, new research identifies it as the work of Emily Louisa Harper of Baltimore, Maryland, a granddaughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Immediately beyond lies the best collection of southern ceramics in the world. For nearly 50 years, Susan and Bill Mariner have amassed a spectacular collection of important southern pottery. In October, it goes on public view for the first time. A self-guided tour of the Mariner Gallery begins with the Moravian pottery tradition here in Salem, one of the most important centers of early southern pottery production, and continues to explore the various traditions throughout all seven states of the MESDA region. With a monumental stoneware jar made in Baltimore for General Lafayette’s patriotic tour of 1824, visitors can celebrate America’s victory at Yorktown. Or stare deep into the eyes of a slave-made face jug from Edgefield County, South Carolina, and ponder its many complex layers of meaning. In all cases, visitors will be able to study these masterpieces at their own pace with guides nearby to answer questions and wall-mounted iPads to provide additional information with the touch of a button. In today’s high-tech world, antique objects still speak to who we are and where we came from, and if one is willing to listen, can point the way to where we are going. Sometimes we want to listen, but in a way that accommodates our own busy schedules. Soon, thanks to Carolyn and Mike McNamara and to Susan and Bill Mariner, we can.
top: mariner gallery elevation of moravian pottery display top right: jar attributed to william h. morgan, baltimore, maryland, 1824; william c. and susan s. mariner collection right: face jug; edgefield, south carolina, 185o-186o; william c. and susan s. mariner collection
old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15 | 15
Digitizing
the mesda
research
Databases
16 | old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15
by gary albert and june lucas
One Saturday morning in 1993, Jim and Harriet Pratt of Estate Antiques were enjoying a cup of coffee with friends at their shop on King Street in Charleston, South Carolina. The group had gathered to examine an 18th-century walnut desk the Pratts had recently purchased at a New Hampshire auction. The desk had been cataloged by the auction house as having been made by an unknown cabinetmaker working in Tidewater Virginia, and there was no reason for the Pratts to question the catalog’s entry—that is until Harriet’s sharp eye spotted a name stamped onto one of the document drawers. The mark read “W/CARWITHEN” and appeared to have been struck with a cabinetmaker’s tool stamp. The mark had not been seen by the desk’s previous owner nor the auction house. Who was “W/CARWITHEN”? The following Monday, Jim called the MESDA Research Center to see if the museum’s research associates had recorded the name in the MESDA Craftsman Database, a resource of about 85,000 artisans identified in primary documents. MESDA had indeed recorded a “William Carwithen” working as a cabinetmaker from 1730 to 1770, but he was not working in Tidewater Virginia. Instead, his shop was located in Charleston, South Carolina! Carwithen was first documented in 1730, when he married Mary Bisset at St. Philips Church, and he appeared in Charleston’s historic records 15 more times over the following 40 years, until his death in 1770. With a search of the MESDA Craftsman Database, a desk attributed to an unknown Virginia cabinetmaker instantly became the earliest piece of signed Charleston furniture. Less than six months later, the desk came to MESDA, and today it enjoys a prominent place in the museum’s collection.
The ways that scholars research antiques and the people who made them have fundamentally changed. Online resources and websites now provide powerful, intuitive tools for researchers. Consequently, in 2008 MESDA launched a tenyear strategic plan to digitize all of the museum’s valuable research assets. data on southern-made decorative arts. The scanning of its over 100,000 images is now underway, funded by a grant from the MARPAT Foundation. The process will be completed by the end of the museum’s 50th Anniversary year, and the project is on schedule to go live in 2016. MESDA has several other resources it has digitized or is in the process of making available online as part of the ten-year strategic plan. The museum’s scholarly periodical, the MESDA Journal, transitioned to an online publication in 2012. The catalog for the Anne P. and Thomas A. Gray Library has been made searchable through MESDA’s website. An intern-led project to digitize Old Salem’s Wachovia Residents Database should be completed by year’s end, and the MESDA Subject Database, a social-history-driven resource, will be available online in 2016. In addition, preparations to digitize MESDA’s collection are underway. Completion of the multiple stages of MESDA’s digitization initiative— completely funded and ahead of schedule—means that the museum’s unparalleled resources will be accessible to anyone with an internet connection, anytime, and free of charge. Check them out next time you’re online. Simply visit mesda.org and click on the “Research” or “Publications” navigation buttons. You might be pleasantly surprised with what you find. Just ask Jim and Harriet Pratt!
For the Pratts, accessing materials in the MESDA Research Center required a number of telephone calls and multiple trips to the museum in Winston-Salem. In the two decades since, however, the ways that scholars research antiques and the people who made them have fundamentally changed. Online resources and websites now provide powerful, intuitive tools for researchers. Consequently, in 2008 MESDA launched a ten-year strategic plan to digitize all of the museum’s valuable research assets. MESDA launched the full-text, online MESDA Craftsman Database early in 2014. Digitizing the approximately 250,000 index cards that comprised the database was not a simple process. Because of its complexity, the museum partnered with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Carolina Digital Library and Archives to assess the project and then follow through with its completion. Funding was provided through a grant from the MARPAT Foundation and a generous gift from David and Martha Rowe. The museum’s second major research tool is the MESDA Object Database, a compilation of over 20,000 files containing images and
above left: carwithen desk on display at mesda above: mesda.org home page
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Distinguished Alumni, Proven Results:
the mesda summer institute
by dr. carroll van west
The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts Summer Institute has trained both students and young museum professionals in the practice of material culture study annually for nearly 40 years. Through a unique combination of hands-on object exploration, primary source research, and intensive fieldwork, the Institute embraces a multidisciplinary approach to decorative arts education. The Institute’s success is demonstrated by the many books, exhibits, and impactful careers of its graduates. above: colonial williamsburg’s chief curator ron hurst instructs the 2o13 summer institute class in the recently opened exhibit “a rich and varied culture: the material world of the early south.” facing page, top: nathan jones studying a headstone at thyatira presbyterian church in rowan county, north carolina facing page, bottom: mrs. nona marshall, director of the national underground railroad museum in maysville, kentucky, with members of the 2o14 summer institute
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Over the last few decades the academic approach to interpreting history has changed dramatically. While previous historians analyzed political, military, and institutional milestones, recent studies embrace social relations and cultural change, gender, race, religion, and economics. This shift has opened the door to incorporating decorative arts and architecture as critical elements in writing a more comprehensive American history.
Because of its experienced faculty, professional network, and proven track record, MESDA’s Summer Institute teaches a methodology that emphasizes “reading” material objects as historical evidence.
More than ever, scholars are turning to landscapes, buildings, and objects to enrich their understanding of the past. This is most recognizable through the inclusion of once marginalized groups, who left far fewer written documents than they did material culture evidence of their role in shaping our culture. Because of its experienced faculty, professional network, and proven track record, MESDA’s Summer Institute teaches a methodology that emphasizes “reading” material objects as historical evidence. This object-centered approach enhances historical scholarship and brings new research questions into the open. The result is better research, better questions, and expanded professional networks: three steps to a stronger field of American material culture studies. MESDA’s Summer Institute has played an important role in shaping the careers of many scholars in the field of American material culture. Graduates include influential professionals such as Luke Beckerdite, Editor, American Furniture; Dale Couch, Curator of Decorative Arts, Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia and Margaret Pritchard, Senior Curator and Curator of Prints, Maps, and Wallpaper, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Landmark publications written by Institute alumni include Ron Hurst’s and Jonathan Prown’s Southern Furniture, 1680–1830: The Colonial Williamsburg Collection; Maurie McInnis’s Slaves Waiting for Sale: Abolitionist Art and the American Slave Trade; Louis P. Nelson’s The Beauty of Holiness: Anglicanism and Architecture in Colonial South Carolina; and Betsy White’s Back Country Makers: An Artisan History of Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee. MESDA is dedicated to ensuring that the Summer Institute meets the highest educational standards through meaningful interaction between our excellent faculty and the high caliber of students who choose to attend. Through a proven methodology, the Institute teaches an approach that informs the cultural history of the South and extends into related regions throughout America. Through its Summer Institute, MESDA is educating scholarship leaders, not followers.
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mesda Summer Institute Graduates Over the course of the Summer Institute, I was privileged to become immersed in MESDA’s unique research holdings and its amazing collection of southern decorative arts. The experience taught me to study not only an object’s maker and owner but also the non-family members in the household and their relationship with that piece. Because of the Summer Institute’s emphasis on asking questions of relevance, I now know how to weave a narrative that can entertain the most jaded of museum visitors, even seventh graders trying their best to look bored and apathetic. Jerome Bias Furniture Maker & Historic Interpreter Old Salem Museum & Gardens MESDA Summer Institute 2009, 2010, and 2011 Time with the MESDA staff, scholar-in-residence, and my classmates provided a new dimension to my understanding of the role material objects played in the lives of people of the past, well beyond my previous graduate studies in historic preservation. In fact, my MESDA Summer Institute research project inspired my dissertation and led to the discovery of a previously unknown East Tennessee cabinetmaker. My ultimate goal is a meaningful career with an Appalachian heritage organization. Amber Clawson Ph.D. Candidate Middle Tennessee State University MESDA Summer Institute 2012
The MESDA Summer Institute was a transformative experience for me. As a senior in college, I had harbored interests in both American material culture and southern history, but I had no clear vision of how the two might interface. The Summer Institute program and MESDA’s peerless research facilities showed me with great clarity that objects made in the South were not merely antiquarian curiosities, but historical documents that spoke volumes about the culture and ethnicity of early southerners. That experience has shaped the direction of my research and career for more than 30 years. Every serious student of southern history and culture should participate in the MESDA Summer Institute. Ronald L. Hurst Vice President for Collections, Conservation, and Museums Carlisle H. Humelsine Chief Curator Colonial Williamsburg Foundation MESDA Summer Institute 1978
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I attended the Summer Institute on the Lowcountry as a Ph.D. student at Yale University. I was in the early stages of my dissertation research and the Summer Institute was critical to my path. Not only did I have weeks to work in MESDA’s unparalleled research collections, but I also met a wide range of scholars and professionals—on the study trip and those who lectured to the class at the museum—who became key colleagues both in my research and later career. Maurie McInnis Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Professor of Art History University of Virginia MESDA Summer Institute 1992
The MESDA Summer Institute is an experience that I highly recommend for anyone who has an interest in material culture and decorative arts. My initial goal in attending the Summer Institute was to develop a more comprehensive knowledge of southern furniture, especially the characteristics and details that are clues about an object’s origin. The Summer Institute not only helped me achieve this goal but also gave me a greater understanding of furniture construction and wood typology. My experience at the Summer Institute in 2011 was so valuable that I returned in 2014 to focus on a different region of the South. I continue to apply the perspectives and approaches that I gained from attending the Summer Institute in my professional career and in my personal research. Grant Quertermous Assistant Curator, James Madison’s Montpelier MESDA Summer Institute 2011 and 2014 I was lucky enough to attend the third MESDA Summer Institute between junior and senior years at The College of William and Mary. Already committed to pursuing a career in the decorative arts, the Summer Institute provided invaluable tutelage, context, and an important introduction to methodologies that remain the benchmark for southern material culture studies. The collegial and personal friendships made that summer have remained among my most cherished. Little did I realize then that the fieldtrip to Charleston would be a prelude to my first professional position and an 18-year career at Historic Charleston Foundation. Today’s participant has the advantage of a world-class library, digitized craftsman database, and the finest collection of southern decorative arts under one roof. This total immersion course is a “must do” not only for students of the South, but all students of American decorative arts and material culture. Tom Savage Director, Museum Affairs Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library MESDA Summer Institute 1978
mesda Advisory Board Dear Supporters of Old Salem,
MESDA Advisory Board Members Past and Present South Carolina
Georgia
Since its inception in October 2000, the MESDA Advisory Board has benefited from the advice and support of 88 individuals who are some of the museum’s most ardent advocates and ambassadors. The board is comprised of representatives from each state within MESDA’s South—Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee— and over the past few years, as we approached the museum’s 50th anniversary, many members have made generous contributions toward physical improvements of the gallery spaces and ensured that significant objects found their way to MESDA. Certainly it would be no surprise that a museum with the mission to “stimulate greater awareness, appreciation, and knowledge of the decorative arts” would enjoy strong support from individuals in its focus region. But a glance at the list of former and present Advisory Board members quickly reveals that interest in and support for MESDA extends far beyond these southern political boundaries. Nor is the board limited solely to collectors and supporters—it includes professionals from many diverse fields such as law, medicine, and finance, as well as scholars who all contribute some portion of their individual expertise to the collective good of advancing MESDA’s mission. Personally, I can tell you that I eagerly anticipate every meeting. Because the board is self-perpetuating, I know that those who now serve will help select replacements who are just as enthusiastic in their appreciation for all that has been accomplished at MESDA. Because of the MESDA Advisory Board’s efforts, I am confident that the museum will continue to thrive in its mission to study, preserve, and ultimately share the material culture of the early South.
C. Tracey Parks Chairman, MESDA Advisory Board
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ååååå Cindy Bregenzer Linda Chesnut Dale Couch Deanne Deavours Sally & Paul Hawkins Elizabeth Mercier Jackie & Anthony Montag Kirk Moore Kentucky
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Clifton Anderson Sharon & Macklin Cox Scott Erbes Genevieve Lacer Norma & Robert Noe Maryland / DC
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Dr. Morgan Delaney W. Ted Gossett Kay Heller Alexander Lourie Susan Mariner Milly McGehee Christine Minter-Dowd Betty Monkman Lynn Springer Roberts North Carolina
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Andrew Brunk Robert Brunk Samuel B. Dixon Cleve Harris Matt Hobbs Dr. James Lester Leland Little Richard McHenry Dr. Jack Monroe Elizabeth Overton Dr. Anthony Parent Dr. Thomas & Sara Sears Barry Sidden William T. Wilson
Russell Buskirk Charlotte Crabtree Ann Dibble Jane Harper Dollason Susan Friberg Mary Elizabeth Hanahan Sarah Horton Harriett & James Pratt Kathleen Staples George Williams Tennessee
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Hank Brockman Dr. Benjamin & Gertrude Caldwell Mary Jo Case Robert Hicks Tracey Parks Dr. Robert & Jane Pearce Dr. Carole Wahler Dr. Carroll Van West Virginia
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Sara Lee Barnes Laura Barry Elizabeth Bullock Melanie Christian Jeffrey Evans Dr. Henry & Melinda Frierson John H. Guy, IV Christopher Jones Eleanor Knowles Carolyn McNamara Christopher Ohrstrom Sumpter Priddy Margaret Pritchard D. Anderson Williams Dr. David & Anna Marie Witmer At-Large
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Davida Deutsch Dr. Katherine Grier S. Revelle Gwyn Ralph Harvard Dr. Theodore Landsmark J. Thomas Savage Kelly Schrimsher Mary Witten Wiseman Phillip Zea
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Celebrating 50 Years of
mesda
October 23–24, 2015
Fifty years ago, Frank L. Horton started a revolution in American decorative arts converting a Kroger grocery store into one of the most dynamic museums in the country. In addition to building a superlative collection, within a decade he would have launched a new journal dedicated exclusively to southern decorative arts, created an award-winning field research and documentary research program, and established the MESDA Summer Institute, a unique program designed to train the eyes and minds of the next generation of American decorative arts scholars. Throughout the weekend, Old Salem is proud to celebrate 5o years of MESDA and commence the next 5o by raising funds to endow the MESDA Summer Institute. Please make plans to join us for a weekend full of celebratory & scholarly activities!
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Registration required. To register or for more information visit oldsalem.org/MESDA5o or call Wilson Pace at 336-721-7328.
bbq, bourbon & bluegrass
Friday, October 23 | 6 – 9 p.m. Horton Meadow in Old Salem
Kick-off MESDA’s 50th anniversary weekend with a BBQ dinner, a bar featuring signature southern cocktails, and a live bluegrass band! This festive, fall evening will take place outdoors under the moonlight in the Horton Meadow. This also will be the first opportunity to view the brand new Carolyn and Mike McNamara Southern Masterworks Gallery and the William C. and Susan S. Mariner Southern Ceramics Gallery with exclusive after hours tours.
gala celebration & live auction
Saturday, October 24 | 6:3o p.m. – 11 p.m. Graylyn Estate, 1900 Reynolda Road
celebrating 5o years of mesda:
Lectures & Luncheon
Saturday, October 24 | 1o a.m. – 1:3o p.m. James A. Gray, Jr. Auditorium Old Salem Museums & Gardens Visitor Center
Join us for a morning of dynamic presentations celebrating MESDA’s past, present, and future. Special guests will speak specifically to MESDA’s founding and the impact of the museum’s research programs, summer institute, collections and publications on the field of southern decorative arts and material culture studies. Betsy Pochoda, Editor of The Magazine Antiques will be our keynote speaker. A gourmet box lunch is included with your registration fee. Following lunch, you are invited to enjoy an All Star Open House in the MESDA Collection featuring the museum’s 30 newly-renovated galleries and hosted by a cast of leading southern decorative arts experts. Speakers to include: Dale L. Couch, Curator of Decorative Arts, Georgia Museum of Art; Ronald L. Hurst, Vice President, Collections, Conservation & Museums, & Carlisle H. Humelsine Chief Curator, Colonial Williamsburg; Robert A. Leath, Vice President Collections & Research, Chief Curator, Old Salem Museums & Gardens; Sumpter T. Priddy, Sumpter T. Priddy, III, Inc., American Antiques & Fine Art, Alexandria, VA; J. Thomas Savage, Director, Museum Affairs, Winterthur Museum & Country Estate; Carolyn Weekley, Juli Grainger Curator Emerita, Colonial Williamsburg; Carroll Van West, Director, Center for Historic Preservation, Middle Tennessee State University
Celebrate MESDA’s golden anniversary with cocktails, live music, and dinner. The evening will feature a spirited live auction. Join us at Graylyn Estate, an expansive, 1920’s estate with its own flair for American decorative arts, for an exquisite evening of celebration and in support of the MESDA Summer Institute. All proceeds from the 50th anniversary weekend will support the MESDA Summer Institute Endowment. About the Institute: Since the 1970s, the MESDA Summer Institute has provided graduate students, museum professionals, and independent scholars with an in-depth, practice-based education in the decorative arts and material culture of the early American South. The Summer Institute has established an enviable track record of shaping the study, practice, and public interpretation of early southern material culture. Funds raised from this weekend will benefit the establishment of the MESDA Summer Institute Endowment the purpose of which will be to provide substantial tuition fellowships to Institute students, thus ensuring the long-term sustainability and continued academic impact of this significant program.
Package Pricing: When you choose to attend all three activities on both Friday and Saturday, you will receive a discount in registration fees with the total price for the weekend being $375 per person. BBQ, Bourbon & Bluegrass: $60 per person BBQ, Bourbon & Bluegrass: $60 per person Celebrating Celebrating 50 50 Years Years of of MESDA: MESDA: Lectures & Luncheon: $75 per person Gala Celebration & Live Auction: $275 per person old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15 | 23
News & Notes from old salem New Faces and Old Faces in New Places Patricia “Pat” Albert has been promoted to Director of Retail Operations. She began her career at Old Salem in July 2006, as a part-time visual merchandiser. In her new role, Pat will supervise Old Salem’s retail-store managers and oversee all of the day-to-day buying, e-commerce and catalog business, and merchandising.
Carolyn Fuller is the new Manager of the Old Salem Visitor Center. She also will supervise the museum store in the Frank L. Horton Museum Center. Before moving into this new job in late January of 2015, Carolyn had been Manager of Individual Giving with the Development team at Old Salem for the past year and a half. In her new role, she is responsible for all activities relating to the Visitor Center, especially the customer’s experience. Sarah Chandler, who joined Old Salem in January 2014 as Coordinator of Development Events, has been promoted to Manager of Individual Giving. In her new role, she will primarily be responsible for Society-level giving in the Frederic William Marshall and Flora Ann Bynum Societies. In addition, she will continue serving as the liaison for the New Benefactors of Old Salem.
Tabatha Renegar has returned to Old Salem as the Coordinator of Development Events. For the past few years, she was associated with WinMock at Kinderton. Tabatha will be responsible for supporting the overall goals and objectives of the Development office through events that steward and cultivate prospects and donors.
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Robbie King, who first came to Old Salem in 2007, has been promoted to Director of Buildings and Landscapes. He manages not only the facility maintenance, custodial, and grounds maintenance services but now has the added responsibility for the Landscape Restoration program to include all Horticultural activities. Robbie has worked hard to expand the presence and importance of the Gardens of Old Salem particularly through the Garden Shop and heirloom plant sales program as well as enhancing interpretive signage, garden tours, publications, and web site development.
Martha Hartley has been promoted to the Director of Research and Public Outreach. Martha has served in a variety of functions at Old Salem dating back to an internship in 1984 in the Department of Architecture while completing her M.A. in Urban Planning and Certificate in Historic Preservation at the University of Virginia. She has worked in support of the Department of Archaeology on numerous excavations and research projects, led the on-site interpretation at St. Philips for two years, led the effort to upgrade the archaeological and horticultural presence on the OSMG website and given numerous lectures and tours. Most recently she has been a primary author in the submittal of the National Landmark Nomination to the National Park Service.
Lindsay Sutton joined the Old Salem team as Marketing & Communications Coordinator in the fall of 2014. In this role she will assist all departments with their marketing needs. In addition, she will coordinate email marketing, social media, and website management. Prior to joining the Old Salem team, Lindsay was in charge of member communications and website services at Grandfather Golf and Country Club in Linville, North Carolina. Before that, Lindsay held several positions in the Office of Alumni Affairs at Appalachian State University.
News & Notes from old salem Old Salem Celebrates
On May 21, 1865, Rev. Seth G. Clark, the Chaplain of the 10th Ohio Cavalry, read General Orders 32 from the pulpit of the African Moravian Brick Church at 911 South Church Street in Salem. The orders announced that they were free from slavery. St. Philips Heritage Center is holding several events throughout the year to celebrate this important anniversary. In the winter and early spring, a film series, Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle, was shown. It included screenings of clips from four documentaries with riveting new footage illustrating the history of civil rights in America. The screenings included discussion forums and scholarly presentations. Old Salem was one of 473 institutions across the country awarded the opportunity to show the films, which chronicle the history of the civil rights movement and mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s March on Washington. The powerful documentaries, Freedom Riders, Slavery by Another Name, The Abolitionists, and The Loving Story, include dramatic scenes of incidents in the 150-year effort to achieve equal rights for all. Throughout the month of February, the Heirloom Puppet Theatre treated visitors to Old Salem to a puppet show entitled A Night in the African-American Portrait Gallery. The show highlighted African American individuals who have paved the way for others with their contributions to our history. The production concentrated on those whose significant achievements may be little known to children.
left: the interior of st. philips african moravian brick church today, which looks very similar to how it looked back in 1865 when general orders 32 were read from the pulpit.
On Saturday, May 16, Old Salem will hold its annual Spring Festival. This year, it will focus on the theme of freedom in honor of the announcement made in St. Philips on May 21, 1865. Included among the activities that day is a reading of General Orders 32 and other events relating to Salem and the Civil War. “This anniversary is an important milestone in American history,” said Cheryl Harry, Director of African American Programming at Old Salem Museums & Gardens. “The events that we are holding throughout the year will honor this monumental part of our heritage. The demonstrations and activities that will take place during Old Salem’s Spring Festival: Celebrating Freedom will remind us all of the bloodshed that devastated both sides of the Civil War. In addition, since it is so close to date of the reading of the Orders (May 21), it is a perfect time to stop and pay homage to the enslaved community and those who fought to free them.” There are more events to come during this anniversary year. Mark your calendar for the annual Heritage Festival and Homowo Food Tasting, which will be held on October 3, 2015 as well as the annual St. Philips Love Feast in December..
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News & Notes from old salem Tree Tours Help Participants Go Beyond ‘Bradford Pears and Dogwoods’ Many fall visitors at Old Salem Museums & Gardens have seen the stunning yellow gingko trees in God’s Acre and the bright red maple trees next to the Miksch House on South Main Street. Fewer people are familiar with some of the other trees that grow in the historic district, such as witch hazel, sassafras, and cherry trees, which have medicinal properties, or the catalpa tree by the water pump on Salem Square, which grows pods that resemble green beans or cigars. For the past several years, Toby Bost has been leading tree tours at Old Salem, sharing folk stories about trees in the historic district and helping participants understand the importance of native trees. On the tours, Bost draws greatly on his 31 years of experience as a horticulturist and Extension Agent with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. He has authored and co-edited several gardening books and received numerous awards. He teaches horticulture classes at Forsyth Technical Community College and for six years directed the Arboretum at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, North Carolina. “Ornamental trees have always interested me,” Bost said. “I developed that interest as part of my career as an extension agent. My dad had a big influence on my love of trees. His family had a saw mill when he was young, and he talked to me about trees from a young age. Or maybe the influence goes farther back and is genetic; that tiny drop of blood five generations ago from my Cherokee grandmother.” Bost says a lot of the participants in his tree tours do not realize that there are “easily 80 species of trees in Forsyth County.” They often ask him how tall and fast different trees grow—and which species would be suitable for their landscapes back home. “They want to find other trees beyond Bradford pears and dogwoods to plant in their yards,” he said. Bost said he tries to share information about how the Moravians used wood, as well as folk stories about various species, including the serviceberry tree, located at the back corner of the Single Brothers’ House. “If you’re from the mountains, you call it ‘sarvis’ berry,” Bost said. “I’ve been told by locals that ‘service’ comes from the fact that when the tree blooms, the ground has thawed enough that you can bury people who had died during the winter (i.e., funeral ‘service’). “And down east, serviceberry is the first tree that blooms and that signals the migration of shad—the shad run,” he continued, “so it’s also called the shadbush or shadblow, named for the freshwater fish.” top: apple and dogwood trees bloom behind the single brothers’ house. bottom: toby bost top right: apple tree at the intersection of salt street and academy street.
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To enhance the Tree Tour experience, Bost recently attached small signs to the 27 trees (ash to willow oak) on the Old Salem Tree Tour. There’s also a printed Tree Guide that he developed especially for the tours. For more information on Tree Tours at Old Salem, visit oldsalem.org/tour/trees-of-salem-tours/.
News & Notes from old salem New Restaurant Serves ‘Delicious and Interesting Food in Relaxed Atmosphere’ A new dining option, The Harpsichord Eatery, has opened in the historic district at 624 South Main Street in the lower level of T. Bagge Merchant. (The entrance is off of West Street.) The menu at the Harpsichord Eatery offers a variety of delicious and innovative options for lunch and light dinner, including soups, sandwiches, salads, and homemade desserts. Diners also can order “trays,” featuring venison, pheasant, and bison summer sausages served with an array of artisan cheeses; French-style cold, wild salmon and vegetables; smoked trout, capers, and boiled eggs with slivers of purple onion; and a vegetarian option. Wine and a children’s menu also are available.
“Our aim is to provide delicious and interesting food in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere,” Shay McNeal said. She and her husband, Claude Poulin, co-own and operate The Harpsichord Eatery. They previously owned and operated Aspen Dale Winery in Virginia. Restaurant hours are 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. The phone number is 336-893-9094, and the catering number is 336-201-5182.
Old Salem Awarded $1o,ooo Grant from Mars Chocolate North America
Old Salem is delighted to announce that it is one of the recipients of a Mars Chocolate North America 2014 Chocolate History Research and Investigative Studies Grant. Old Salem was one of three living history sites awarded a grant for innovative work in the areas of chocolate history programming. Harold Schmitz, Chief Science Officer, Mars, Incorporated and HowardYana Shapiro, Chief Agricultural Officer, Mars, Incorporated awarded the grants at the banquet dinner of the Colonial Chocolate Society at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello on November 19, 2014. The Colonial Chocolate Society is a group that meets annually to further the study of chocolate’s history and legacy in the Americas. The grants were awarded for the following activities: Betsy Ross House/Historic Philadelphia, Inc.: 18th-century kitchen exhibit reinterpretation and demonstration project; Genesee Country Museum: Expansion of current chocolate history program to include new presentations to enhance the visitor experience year-round; and Old Salem Museums & Gardens: Further study in a research project focused on how a documented 18th-century Salem resident purchased and sold chocolate in the community.
Astronaut Mark Kelly with Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords to Speak at Old Salem Event Old Salem Museums & Gardens will present “American Perspectives featuring Mark Kelly with Gabby Giffords: Endeavour to Succeed” on Wednesday, September 16, 2015 at 7 p.m. A former Gulf War combat pilot and a veteran of four shuttle missions, Mark Kelly made history serving as commander of Space Shuttle Endeavour’s final flight into space. Already a celebrated American, Kelly became the center of international attention after the January 2011 assassination attempt on his wife, former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle (Gabby) Giffords. Kelly, along with Giffords, exemplifies leadership, the importance of teamwork, and courage under pressure. Kelly’s presentation will be complemented by remarks from Giffords. A question and answer session will follow. The event will take place at the Stevens Center of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts at 405 West 4th Street in WinstonSalem. “American Perspectives Featuring Mark Kelly with Gabby Giffords” is presented in partnership with First Tennessee Bank and benefits Old Salem Museums & Gardens. Tickets are on sale now. For more information, visit oldsalem.org/markkelly. This is the fifth presentation of Old Salem’s “American Perspectives,” a series of lectures and events held to support Old Salem Museums & Gardens. The first lecture, “The Lessons of History: Doris Kearns Goodwin on the American Presidents,” took place on September 26, 2012; David Brooks spoke on September 25, 2013; Adrian Miller gave a presentation entitled “Black Chefs in the White House” on March 8, 2014; and Robert Edsel, author of The Monuments Men, spoke on October 1, 2014. old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15 | 27
Thank You
generously helping to sustain and preserve for
The History and Culture of our City!
Pillars of Our Community
preservationist level $1o,ooo – above
historian level $5,ooo – $9,999
conservationist level $2,5oo – $4,999
BB&T Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, LLP Reynolds American
Anonymous Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Carolinas Realty Caterpillar, Inc. Flow Automotive Companies Hanesbrands RockTenn Company Wilson-Covington Construction Company Winston-Salem Journal Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP
Capture Public Relations & Marketing First Tennessee Bank Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation Landmark Aviation Pepsi Bottling Ventures Wake Forest Innovation Quarter
horticulturalist level $1,ooo – $2,499 Adele Knits/COR365 Advanced Consumer Electronics Aladdin Travel & Meeting Planners, Inc. Allegacy Federal Credit Union Annese Public Relations Capital Development Services DataChambers
Dixon Hughes Goodman Duke Energy First Community Bank Fourway Warehouse & Distribution Goslen Printing Inmar Mercedes-Benz of Winston-Salem
Mountcastle Insurance Piedmont Natural Gas PostMark, Inc. Quality Oil Salemtowne, Inc Siemens Energy State Farm Insurance
archivist level $5oo – $999 Bell, Davis & Pitt, PA Brendle Financial Group The Budd Group CJMW Architecture P.A. David E. Day, Inc. The Dickson Foundation Excalibur Direct Mail Marketing
Hedgecock Building Supply of Walnut Cove The Historic Brookstown Inn Kaplan Early Learning Center Leonard Ryden Burr Real Estate McNeely Pest Control Shelco
Sylvester & Cockrum, Inc. The Tavern in Old Salem T.W. Garner Foods Village Tavern Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce Architects, P.A. Wells Fargo Advisors
celebrating and honoring Pillars of Our Community “Bonding Together As Business Friends of Old Salem Museums & Gardens” 28 | old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15
calendar
through september 2o15 may May 1 Seasonal Tree Tours Horticulturalist Toby Bost leads a fascinating and humorous tour of Old Salem’s trees discussing historical uses, characteristics of species, and how they might work in your landscape. Noon – 1:30 p.m. $10 per person. Registration suggested.*
May 16 Spring Festival: Celebrating Freedom Celebrate the 150th anniversary of the announcement of Freedom to the African American community in Salem through Civil War re-enactors, Reading of General Orders 32, music, and more. 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Included with All-In-One ticket, Adults/$23; 6 – 16/$11.
May 2 MESDA Saturday Seminar: Chic it Up, Y’all The 20th-century southern interior as inspired by the past. Speakers include Ralph Harvard, J. Thomas Savage, and Margaret Pritchard. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Registration $65/Friend of MESDA or Old Salem, $60 (includes lunch). James A. Gray, Jr. Auditorium, Visitor Center. Register at mesda.org or call 336-721-7360.
May 16 Pottery Fair on the Square Select North Carolina potters will be selling their handmade stoneware, earthenware, and folk art at this 5th annual event. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Free. Salem Square.
May 2 – November 21 Old Salem Cobblestone Farmers Market Every Saturday through November 21. 9 a.m. – Noon. Located next to Single Brothers’ Garden. May 5 “The Beauty and Bounty of Old Salem” Garden Club of America Flower Show Flower Show with lunch and an afternoon of garden-related activities. Presented by the Twin City Garden Club, a member of The Garden Club of America. 12:30 – 4 p.m. Details and registration at twincitygardenclub.com.
May 23 The Vintage: A National Gathering of BMWs at Old Salem Outdoor car show, thought to be “the best BMW car show on the East Coast.” 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. No ticket is required. South Main Street. For more details, visit atthevintage.com. May 23 Garden Workshop: Herbal Tea Garden Learn about making tea from herbs commonly found in the Piedmont Triad. 10 –11 a.m. Free. Single Brothers’ Workshop. To register, email vhannah@oldsalem.org or leave message at 336-721-7357. May 14 Garden Workshop: Herbs & Herbal Remedies to Make at Home Learn the specific herbs to use, in fresh or dried form, to create healing remedies. Noon – 1 p.m. (Bring lunch) Free. James A. Gray, Jr. Auditorium, Old Salem Visitor Center. To register, email vhannah@ oldsalem.org or leave message at 336-721-7357.
May 29 Homeschool Day: Science Alive in Salem Opportunity for Homeschool students to experience the history and heritage of Salem using hands-on, science-based activities and demonstrations. 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. $14 Adult/ $9 Student, with advance reservations/prepayment. Reservations required.* old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15 | 29
june June 4 Juneteenth Luncheon Celebrate Juneteenth, the country’s longest-running observance of the abolition of slavery, Noon – 1:30 p.m. $25/$20 for Students and Friends of Salem. James A. Gray, Jr. Auditorium, Old Salem Visitor Center. Pre-registration by May 29 required.* June 13 Flag Day in Old Salem Flags appropriate to the time period of each building will be on display, historic trades demonstrations, hearth cooking, period patriotic music, and a create your own flag craft. Included in All-in-One Ticket, Adults/$23; 6 – 16/$11. June 24 Seasonal Tree Tours Horticulturalist Toby Bost leads a fascinating and humorous tour of Old Salem’s trees discussing historical uses, characteristics of species, and how they might work in your landscape. Noon – 1:30 p.m. $10 per person. Registration suggested.* June 28 – July 24 MESDA Summer Institute The 2015 Institute emphasizes the Material Culture and Decorative Arts of the Carolina and Georgia Low Country. Application deadline: April 20. Tuition: $2,300. MESDA, Frank L. Horton Museum Center. Visit mesda.org for application and info.
June 22 – 26 Summer Adventures Camp (Grades 1 – 2) One-of-a-kind summer learning experience involving textiles, pottery, fireplace cooking, leatherworking, woodworking. 9 a.m. – Noon. Prior to May 15, $175/$40 Friends of Salem. After May 15, $200/$165 Friends of Salem. Register at oldsalem.org/summer-camps. June 27 One Day Summer Adventures for Parents/Grandparents and Child(ren) New summer program for children in grades 4 – 6 and parents/ grandparent! Make a memory with your child or grandchild through hands-on activities. Cost $45 per participant/$40 Friends of Old Salem. Registrater at oldsalem.org/summer-camps.
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June 29 – July 3; 7– 8 Summer Apprenticeship Program (Grades 9 – 12) Hands-on experience with the Old Salem Historic Trades staff. Apprentices work with textiles, flax and wool, tinsmithing, blacksmithing, and leatherworking. $250 or $225 for Friends of Salem. Apply by May 1 at oldsalem.org/summer-camps.
july July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Wednesday Noon Tannenberg Organ Recitals Free organ recitals at Noon. July 1 Andrew Scanlon; July 8 Peggy Howell; July 15 David Troiano; July 22 Murray Forbes Somerville; July 29 Teodora Circiumaru. Free. James A Gray, Jr. Auditorium, Old Salem Visitor Center. July 4 Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony Hands-on activities, demonstrations, music, games, and more. Experience a moving naturalization ceremony at 10 a.m. Gather in the Square for a 4:15 p.m. re-enactment of the 1783 celebration of July 4th by the Moravians in Salem. Included in All-in-One Ticket, Adults/$23; 6 – 16/$11.
July 5 Independence Weekend Celebration Patriotic activities and demonstrations for the whole family! 1 – 4:30 p.m. Included in All-in-One Ticket, Adults/$23; 6 – 16/$11. July 6 – 10 Summer Adventures Camp (Grades 6 – 8) One-of-a-kind summer learning experience involving textiles, pottery, fireplace cooking, leatherworking, woodworking. 9 a.m. – Noon. $175 or $140 for Friends of Salem. Register at oldsalem.org/summer-camps. July 13 – 17 or July 20 – 24 Summer Adventures Camp (Grades 3 – 5) One-of-a-kind summer learning experience involving textiles, pottery, fireplace cooking, leatherworking, woodworking. 9 a.m. – Noon. $175 or $140 for Friends of Salem. Register at oldsalem.org/summer-camps.
July 13 – 17; 21 – 22 Summer Apprenticeship Program (Grades 9 – 12) Hands-on experience with the Old Salem Historic Trades staff. Apprentices work with textiles, flax and wool, tinsmithing, blacksmithing, and leatherworking. $250 or $225 for Friends of Salem. Apply by May 1 at oldsalem.org/summer-camps. July 25 New Benefactors of Old Salem present World Cup Foosball Tournament Two person teams will compete in a bracket-style tournament. $25/$40 per team (with/without NBOS member on team). $15 for spectators. Includes open bar (wine/beer) and appetizers. 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Old Salem Visitor Center.
august August 8 One Day Summer Adventures for Parents/Grandparents and Child(ren) New summer program for children in grades 4 – 6 and parents/ grandparent! Make a memory with your child or grandchild through hands-on activities. Cost $45 per participant/$40 Friends of Old Salem. Registration and details at oldsalem.org/summer-camps. August 13 Garden Workshop Backyard Series: Fall Propagation for Spring Planting Part of our From our Backyards to Yours series. Late summer is the time to prepare for beautiful blooming spring perennials. Learn simple methods to start difficult perennials for planting out the following spring, as well as how to over-winter them. Noon-1 p.m. Old Salem Greenhouse (845 S. Poplar St). To register, email vhannah@oldsalem.org or leave message at 336-721-7357. August 15 Carolina Summer Music Festival: Close to You: The Music of Burt Bacharach Join Martha Bassett and friends for a delightful concert. 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets $20/$5 for students. Purchase tickets at carolinachambersymphony.org.
September 9 and 11 Homeschool Days Heritage Festival Join us to discover the shared heritage of the Europeans, African Americans, and Native Americans in Salem through hands-on activities and demonstrations. Pre-registration is required.* September 12 MESDA Saturday Seminar: Southern Longrifles: Rifle Makers of Kentucky, Georgia, and North Carolina Engaging and enlightening lectures by Mel Hankla, C. Michael Briggs and Wayne Elliott. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Registration $65/Friend of MESDA or Old Salem, $60 (includes lunch). James A. Gray, Jr. Auditorium, Visitor Center. Register at mesda.org or call 336-721-7360. September 16 American Perspectives featuring Captain Mark Kelly with Gabby Giffords: Endeavour to Succeed Retired Astronaut Captain Mark Kelly with remarks from his wife, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, for a special one-night only lecture. 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Lower Level/$50, Upper Level/$35. Active military personnel and veterans and 10 or more will receive a 10% discount. Stevens Center of the UNC School of the Arts. Tickets: Stevens Center box office in person, 336-721-1945, or online. September 17 Garden Workshop Backyard Series: A Beautiful Spring Garden Starts Now A few garden tasks accomplished in late summer/early fall will ensure beautiful results in the spring. Noon – 1 p.m. Levering Garden, across from 512 Salt St. To register, email vhannah@oldsalem.org or leave message at 336-721-7357. September 26 Garden Workshop: Herbal Infusions & Edible Blooms Learn to make oils, vinegars, and sun infusions from fresh herbs and explore edible flowers. 10 – 11 a.m. Single Brothers’ Workshop, 10 W. Academy St. To register, email vhannah@oldsalem.org or leave message at 336-721-7357. *To register, reserve a spot, or purchase tickets, please call 1-800-441-5305.
August 22 Military History Showcase Explore the military throughout Salem’s history (mid-18th to mid-19th centuries). The day will be filled with activities and demonstrations particular to each military period, along with presentations of daily life in the town of Salem. 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Included in All-in-One Ticket, Adults/$23; 6 – 16/$11.
september September 3 Garden Workshop Backyard Series: Direct Seeding Vegetables for the Fall Learn how to compost, amend, prepare, and plant a garden bed with direct seeding of a variety of vegetables. Noon – 1 p.m. Single Brothers’ Garden. To register, email vhannah@oldsalem.org or call 336-721-7357. old salem museums & gardens | spring 2o15 | 31
On
Common Ground A campaign to revitalize and re-imagine Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Your generous support is essential to the success of On Common Ground. Please learn more, ask questions, and become involved. Contact Frances Beasley, Vice President of Development, at 336-721-7331 or visit oldsalem.org/oncommonground.