I am so very pleased to be here today to present the Archie K. Davis Award, an award that the Wachovia Historical Society established in 1999, twenty-five years ago. This award is in recognition of the contributions of the late Archibald Kimbrough Davis to the study and appreciation of the history of North Carolina and our nation. Archie Davis, as most of you know, was a revered and respected local banker, statesman and a lifelong student of the history of North Carolina and the Civil War.
This award is given annually by the Society, and recognizes an individual whose outstanding contributions and devotion to the history of our region, state, an
d nation have enriched the appreciation of our heritage.
This year’s recipient truly exemplifies all the aspects of the award and she hardly needs any introduction to most of you. She has spent the last 33 years dedicating her professional life to Old Salem and MESDA, and specifically to collecting, preserving, exhibiting, and researching and writing about the decorative arts and material culture of the Moravians – and this includes the collection of the Wachovia Historical Society.
This year’s esteemed recipient – of the Wachovia Historical Society’s Archie K. Davis Award – is Johanna Metzgar Brown.
And, I guess I could stop here, but in addition to the award-winning characteristics that I just told you, let me tell you a little more about Johanna.
Johanna and I worked very closely together in Old Salem’s department of collections for many years. She was an intern at Old Salem while she was a student at Salem College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies. After completing her master’s degree in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program in Cooperstown, NY, in 1991, I hired her as my assistant – my lucky day!; and at that time, I was Curator of Collections. From then on, she has very capably served in various collections management and curatorial positions. And thus began a “never dull” professional collaboration and a lasting friendship.
Johanna’s first few years at Old Salem were fairly normal, as far as museum work goes. But then, Old Salem embarked on the expansion of the MESDA building, and this included a specially designed space for temporary exhibitions, both for Old Salem and MESDA. The inaugural exhibition, to honor the European origins and heritage of the earliest Moravian settlers to Wachovia, was several years in the making. It was finally opened in the fall of 1996 (surviving some complications of Hurricane Fran!), and was called One Thousand Years of Czech Culture, Treasures from the National Museum in Prague. Some of you probably remember it. As curator for the exhibition, I made several working trips to Prague, and finally Johanna got her turn. So, Johanna married James Brown, a life-long Moravian, in the spring of 1996, and in June or July, we send her off to Prague for a month to basically catalogue, assess condition and supervise the packing and shipping of over 200 rare and fragile, enormous and minute objects, all in Prague’s huge National Museum with no climate control, except for open windows, and limited light, except what the sun provided or curtains blocked. That’s dedication! And it hasn’t waned since then!
Part of this same expansion of MESDA was the need to find a new storage location for the combined Old Salem, MESDA, and Wachovia Historical Society collections, that had been stored in the basement of MESDA for many decades. So, Johanna and I made a plan, along with Frank Horton, Brad Rauschenberg, John Larson and others, and that was to move most of storage to the old Coke Bottling Plant, that Old Salem owned. Transforming that space from factory to collections storage had its own set of trials and tribulations, but we did it, and finally with a collective sigh of relief we thought – Well that’s done forever! Wrong! – Just within the last few years, the Coke plant was sold and Johanna has had to make a NEW plan – to move it all BACK to newly designed storage again in the basement of MESDA. What this shows, is that if you work at Old Salem long enough you end up repeating past projects!
But along the way, Johanna has had time to devote careful research into the decorative arts and material culture of the Moravians and the broader South. Her work is accurate, thorough, and trusted and this has earned her great respect in the museum field. She is a nationally recognized scholar of Moravian and Southern Material Culture. She is a sought-after speaker, and she has written for many publications including Ceramics in America, The Magazine Antiques, Antiques and Fine Arts, and The Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts.
Johanna has also curated a number of exhibits in her roles at Old Salem. In 2009 she co-curated the seminal exhibition “Art in Clay: Masterworks of North Carolina Earthenware” with Luke Beckerdite and Robert Hunter. More recently she curated the Dianne Furr Moravian Decorative Arts Gallery in the Horton Museum Center. And she was my “right arm” on the exhibit teams that developed the medical exhibition in the Doctors House, called The Moravian Way of Health and Healing, which opened in 2017, and the immersive and interactive exhibits in the reimagined 1794 Boys’ School, which opened in 2018 just prior to my retirement.
But, going back a few more years, let us not forget Johanna’s massive role in the success of some of our other projects such as the 1999 exhibit The Pleasure of Your Company: Presidential China 1789-1999; the development and installation of the Old Salem Toy Museum; and at one point, the move of the entire MESDA collection to the former MESDA auditorium, so that the roof of the building could be replaced and the collection would be safe, and then, of course, we had to move it all back! I must say that our “woman power” in our younger days was indeed impressive! Hopefully, for Johanna’s sake, that won’t be a repeat performance!!
And while exhibitions and publications are public facing and audience building, and bring recognition to Old Salem and MESDA, I want to thank Johanna for her major role in bringing the policies, procedures and technologies necessary for the long-term care, preservation and access of Old Salem’s collections up to recognized museum standards and ethics. And she deserves ALL of our thanks for that.
The very fact that we are here today honoring Johanna Brown, shows that she has “staying power.” In her position as Curator of Moravian Decorative Arts and Historic Building Interiors, she persevered through the dark years of Covid, and Old Salem’s dark years immediately preceding Covid. It was important to her to “hang on” no matter what, to do what she could to ensure that the collections were protected and to help Old Salem Museums & Gardens finally emerge as the Phoenix, that it certainly is. We all owe her a sincere debt of gratitude for her unwavering dedication and her ability to look forward to the future with hope.
And, in the midst of her many administrative responsibilities at Old Salem, she also serves on the Wachovia Historical Society’s board as an advisor and manages the Society’s collection; she serves on the board of trustees of Historic Bethabara Park; and she is on the Board of the Charleston Symposium of the Preservation Society of Charleston. These organizations are certainly fortunate to have her on their teams!
Other criteria that define the Archie Davis award are “grace, gentility, intellect, enthusiasm, perseverance, and humility,” all of which are exemplified in Johanna. To those, add a great depth of knowledge about the Moravians, and a caring heart for her colleagues, family and friends, and we can clearly see why she was recently named Chief Curator and Director of Collections, Research, and Archaeology at Old Salem Museums & Gardens and the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. And I say, It’s about Time!!
In announcing her promotion, Old Salem’s President, Terry Taylor, so rightly said: “Johanna Brown’s expertise in the material culture of the Moravians and the broader South and her longevity with Old Salem Museums & Gardens make her uniquely qualified to guide the museums’ collections, research, and archaeology initiatives. Her demonstrated commitment to using those resources in creative and thoughtful ways to engage the museums’ audiences make her the ideal person to lead the collections, research, and archaeology team at Old Salem and MESDA.” There’s no question about that! And I know there are great days ahead for Old Salem, MESDA and the Wachovia Historical Society because of Johanna’s leadership.
But, I think it’s important to say that amid all that Johanna does in her professional life and her commitment to Old Salem, believe it or not, she has a private life, too! As I said earlier, she’s married to James Brown and they have two wonderful young adult children, Libby and William. Some of us remember well the days that each of them was born! And don’t forget their beloved Lab, Gus, who happily shares their home in Bethania, the historic 1805 Shore-Lehman House. Now, how perfect is that for Johanna to live in Bethania?! Not only that, but she is an Elder in the Bethania Moravian Church, and she was recently elected to the Bethania Board of Commissioners. And Johanna always has time for her wonderful parents, Nancy and Carl Metzgar, who also live here, and for her sisters, Jenny and Sarah, and their families.
In accepting her new role at Old Salem, Johanna said: “I am excited to continue working with the exceptional Old Salem and MESDA staff. Continuing to develop collections and research materials and making them increasingly accessible to visitors and scholars is my top priority. I am also honored to follow in the footsteps of MESDA’s founder, Frank Horton, who was a mentor in my early career. He and the past curatorial leaders developed America’s finest collection of Southern and Moravian material culture and research right here in Old Salem, and I look forward to ensuring that these resources continue to grow and thrive.” I have no doubt that Johanna will achieve all of her goals for Old Salem Museums & Gardens. And we should all feel very lucky that at this point in Old Salem’s history Johanna has her steady hand on the helm!
So, without further ado, it is my great privilege and honor to present to my dear friend, Johanna Metzgar Brown, the 2024 Archie K. Davis Award.
Written and presented by Paula Locklair
October 27, 2024
Former VP Education, Old Salem Museums & Gardens
