Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts

The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) is the preeminent center for researching, collecting, and exhibiting decorative arts made and used by those living and working in the early South. One of the museums at Old Salem Museums & Gardens, MESDA is home to the finest collection of southern decorative arts in the country. The museum is internationally recognized for its contributions to the study and understanding of the history, decorative arts, and material culture of the American South.

MESDA is the realization of a vision shared by two extraordinary individuals: Frank L. Horton and his mother Theodosia "Theo" L. Taliaferro, who were pioneering antiques dealers and collectors who dedicated most of their lives to raising awareness of and appreciation for domestic objects made in the South.  MESDA is the fruition of their aspirations - a museum solely dedicated to the preservation, scholarship, and connoisseurship of southern decorative arts and material culture.