Tag Archives: museum

The Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition is thrilled to announce our distinguished speaker for the Annual Meetings: Paula J. Johnson is a curator, project director, and public historian in the Division of Work and Industry at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.  She is responsible for the food technology and marine resources collections and is the project director and co-curator for the exhibition, FOOD: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000, which opened in 2012. Johnson was one of the curators who collected the home kitchen of Julia Child in 2001, and developed the exhibition Bon Appétit! Julia Child’s Kitchen at the Smithsonian.

Paula Johnson

She will be delivering a talk at our reception which will be held on Friday, December 1^st at 7:45pm, entitled “Collecting and Curating Food History for a Hungry Public”. Join us and enjoy appetizers and drinks while we reconnect and socialize! Following our distinguished speaker, we will present awards for the Christine Wilson Award and the Thomas Marchione Award.

To celebrate her participation, we are planning a special trip to visit the Food Exhibit at the Smithsonian the same day. Those who are interested in joining us should plan to meet at the Obelisk near the registration desk in the Marriott Lobby at 11:30am on Friday, or meet us at the doors of the Constitution Avenue Entrance of the National Museum of American History at noon. This is quite a large exhibit and covers a tremendous amount of historical and cultural territory. The New York Times described it in this way: “It explores changes in the way our food is grown, manufactured and distributed, with a look at how gender and immigration influence food, as well as the greater role of wine at the table.”

Presentation Title and Abstract

Collecting and Curating Food History for a Hungry Public

This presentation will explore how an interdisciplinary approach to food history at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is creating new opportunities for research and a vibrant, multi-layered experience for museum visitors. By broadening its research, scholarship, and collecting of objects and archives, the museum’s food history team is building a solid foundation for the study of food history and culture in the United States. The team has also expanded its programmatic offerings to include live cooking demonstrations that link the history of ingredients, culinary techniques, and cultural traditions to larger themes and events in American history. Through experimentation with different program models and rigorous evaluations, the team is developing a new, sensory-rich menu for reaching diverse audiences and for creating new relationships and partnerships. This presentation will reveal lessons learned and encourage dialogue among participants.