It is with deep gratitude that I welcome you to the 2025 issue of the Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, a milestone volume that marks the Journal’s fiftieth anniversary. For half a century, this publication has provided a forum for new scholarship, discoveries, and perspectives on the material culture of the early South. From its first issue in 1975 to today, the MESDA Journal has carried forward the mission of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA): to foster deeper understanding of the material culture and craft traditions of the early American South through rigorous research and thoughtful interpretation.

This anniversary issue offers both reflection and renewal. Chief Curator Johanna M. Brown contributes a celebratory essay that looks back on MESDA’s history, from its founding vision, its decades of pioneering scholarship, to its enduring role as a center for research. This essay is especially fitting as 2025 also marks MESDA’s sixtieth anniversary, allowing us to celebrate the intertwined histories of the museum and its journal.

Alongside this commemorative piece, the issue presents a diverse slate of new scholarship. J. Christian Kolbe introduces us to Willis McKeand, a recently discovered cabinetmaker who worked in Goochland County, Virginia, from 1802 to 1815, expanding our understanding of the connections between urban Richmond and the Virginia Piedmont. Christopher Lang brings Alabama into the Journal’s pages with an article on cabinetmaker Thomas S. Doron, offering an early look at cabinetmaking traditions in Montgomery. Stephen C. Compton explores the potters of North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley, revealing the persistence of earthenware production in the region and its lasting imprint on southern pottery traditions.

As we celebrate fifty years of publication, we also look forward. The MESDA Journal remains committed to supporting new voices, new questions, and new ways of interpreting the early South’s material legacy. On behalf of the editorial team, I extend my thanks to our authors, peer reviewers, and readers, whose dedication sustains both this publication and the field it serves. May this anniversary issue remind us of how far we have come and inspire us for the work still ahead.

With best wishes,
Kim May
Managing Editor
[email protected]