Lately From: Immigrant Craftspeople & the Making of the American South

Through December 31, 2026

An Irish schoolmaster. A German Jewish silversmith. An African Muslim scholar. A multi-national female pastelist. A Scottish cabinetmaker. A potter, a carpenter, an engraver. The lives of these individuals share a common thread: they were “lately from” somewhere else and came to the American South in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

This exhibition features objects created by these craftspeople whose origins spanned continents and oceans. As much as possible, it connects those objects with the words of their makers through letters, inscriptions, autobiographies, account books, advertisements, and even drawings. Together, they tell the story of journeys taken, communities forged in new homes, responses to changing political climates, and the creative blending of traditions into something new.

On view through December 2026 at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in the Frank L. Horton Museum Center, 924 South Main Street, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included in Old Salem or MESDA ticket, free for members.