Three CHP graduate students recently completed the 2016 Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) Summer Institute focused on the Upper Chesapeake. During the course of the institute, each student developed an original research project under the guidance of Dr. Van West, who served as the visiting scholar for the institute. Those projects were: “Dr. Who? Apothe- What?: The Birth of the Modern Pharmacy through the Lens of an 18 ^th Century Apothecary Chest,” by Torren Gatson; “If These Walls Could Talk: The Architectural Interior of a Quaker Home in Southampton County, Virginia,” by Tiffany Momon; and “The Little Mermaid: Cultural Implications of a Nautical Family Sampler,” by Marquita Reed.

From left to right: Marquita Reed, Tiffany Momon, and Torren Gatson.