Southern Furniture & American Identity

October 22-24, 2026 Winston-Salem, NC

 

Southern Furniture & American Identity
A MESDA Furniture Seminar
October 22-24, 2026
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

 

American colonists and Americans in the new republic experienced one constant: change. From changing political identities, geographic boundaries, and conceptions of freedom, American lives constantly evolved. This seminar will explore the ways that craftspeople and cabinetmakers navigated this ever-shifting political and social landscape and the ways that they reflected shifting American and European tastes and identities in their work.

Please plan to join us in Winston-Salem or online for this two day seminar. Participants will engage in two days of lectures, including a keynote address by Dr. Tiffany Momon, Associate Professor of History at Sewanee: The University of the South and Founder of the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive, as well as opportunities to participate in pre-conference workshops and a furniture open house in MESDA’s study galleries.

 

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REGISTRATION (Opening in April!)

Conference Registration	$395.00 | $385.00 Society Level Members*
Registration includes two pastry breakfasts, two lunches, a keynote reception, all lectures, and access to the lecture recordings.
Lately From: The Work of Immigrant Cabinetmakers in the MESDA Collection Tour Add-On	$50
Birds of a Feather : An Introduction to Cutting Three Types of Dovetails Hands-On Workshop Add-On	$75

Virtual Ticket

Donation Suggested

Registration includes access to a live zoom link the days of the conference and limited time access to the lectures for two months.

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ADD-ONS AND WORKSHOPS: Thursday, October, 2026

 

Detail, Teaboard, Thomas Elfe, Charleston, South Carolina, 1775, MESDA Purchase Fund (5709)	Inspired by MESDA’s special exhibition Lately From, this collection tour will explore furniture created by craftspeople who began their lives across the ocean. We will consider how the craft traditions of their homelands continued to shape the objects they made in the American South – as well as how they adapted to their new environment.
	This class is geared for those new to dovetails. We will use hand tools to cut a standard corner dovetail joint, a sliding dovetail common in early Moravian woodwork, and inset a dovetail graving piece. Please note that tools will be provided for the class.

 

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SPEAKERS

Tiffany Momon, Associate Professor of History, Sewanee: The University of the South

Lydia Blackmore, Curator of Decorative Arts, The Historic New Orleans Collection

Tara Chicirda, Senior Curator of Furniture, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Annabeth Dooley, Independent Scholar

Jeff Evans, Owner and Scholar, Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates

Philippe Halbert, Curator of Decorative Arts & Design, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Emilie Johnson, Curator of Arts & History, Thomas Jefferson Foundation

Steve Latta, Professor of Cabinetmaking and Wood Technology, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology

Grahame Long, Executive Director of Collections, Operations, & Historic Interiors, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Melissa Naulin, Independent Scholar

William Strollo, Curator of Old Salem and Historic Building Interiors, Old Salem Museums & Gardens

Sarah Towers, Associate Conservator of Upholstery & Wooden Artifacts, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

 

 

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SCHEDULE

Thursday, October 22

1:30-2:30 pm	Lately From: The Work of Immigrant Cabinetmakers in the MESDA Collection Tour with Lea Lane
3:00-5:00 pm	Birds of a Feather: An Introduction to Cutting Three Types of Dovetails with Chet Tomlinson

Friday, October 23

9:15 am	Breakfast
10:00 am	Johanna Brown, Welcome & New to the Collection
10:25 am	Tara Chicirda, The Work of Williamsburg Cabinetmaker John Hockaday Sponsored by Leland Little Auctions
11:15 am	Break
11:45 am	Sarah Towers, Please (Don’t) Be Seated: Approaches and Methods in Upholstery Conservation
12:20 pm	Lunch
1:20 pm	Jeff Evans, A Woman’s Touch: Female Chairmakers and Associated Artisans in the American South
1:55 pm	Break
2:20 pm	Philippe Halbert, “A Russia Leather Couch, Good and Strong”: Rank, Race, and Russia Leather in the Chesapeake, 1670-1750
3:00-5:00 pm	Open House in the MESDA Collection
5:00-6:30 pm	Keynote Reception
6:30 pm	Keynote: Tiffany Momon, Hands That Shaped A Nation: Black Craftspeople and the Making of Southern Furniture

Saturday, October 24

9:15 am	Breakfast
10:00 am	Melissa Naulin, William King: Washington, DC Cabinetmaker
10:35 am	Break
11:00 am	Steve Latta, John Shaw Pembroke Table Demonstration
12:30 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm	William Strollo, Fighting for Freedom: Black Craftspeople & the Pursuit of Independence
1:55 pm	Lydia Blackmore, Crafting Community: Cabinetmakers of Color from Saint-Domingue in New Orleans
2:30 pm	Emilie Johnson, John Hemmings and the Monticello Joiner’s Shop
3:05 pm	Break
3:30 pm	Annabeth Dooley, Smoke & Mirrors: The work of Tennessee cabinetmaker Lewis Buckner
4:05 pm	Grahame Long, One Signature, One Life: Reclaiming the Story of John Gough, Charleston Cabinetmaker

 

NOTE: This program and schedule is subject to amendment. 

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PROGRAM GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY:

 

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