Old Salem Museums and Gardens is looking for new leadership. Current president and CEO Franklin Vagnone is leaving for a position in Rhode Island. Vagnone was an out-of-the-box choice when leaders of the tradition-bound institution chose him for the top position in 2016. Vagnone had earned a reputation as somewhat of an iconoclast after a book he co-authored The Anarchist’s Guide to Historic House Museums reimagined the way history was presented.
Frank Vagnone, who has served as president and the chief executive of Old Salem Museums and Gardens and the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts since January 2017, will step
Like thousands of North Carolinians, anti-racism educator Lucretia Berry took a field trip to Old Salem Museums & Gardens as a child. She learned about the Moravians, about how they were staunch pacifists and valued peace. But it wasn’t until well into her 30s that she learned that slavery was even a part of Old Salem’s story.