06/09/2026
Join Old Salem Museums & Gardens for a special day celebrating the legacy of Peter Oliver!
On June 13th, Old Salem will celebrate the life of Peter Oliver: an enslaved Moravian man who lived and worked in Salem in the late 1700's. Oliver became a skilled potter and craftsman, and is Salem's only documented individual to successfully purchase his own freedom, which was finalized in a Lancaster, PA courthouse on June 13th, 1800🏺
In cooperation with Creative Corridors, this year's Peter Oliver Day will feature special programming and interpretation throughout the district, with an emphasis on Black history, freedom, and post-emancipation life in Salem
Peter Oliver’s story will take center stage in the buildings most directly connected to his life. Activities will include:
đź“śHighlighted demonstrations in the Single Brothers House Pottery Workshop.
đź“śVisit the Dianne Furr Moravian Decorative Arts Gallery at the Frank L. Horton Museum Center to learn more about Peter Oliver.
📜Guided tour at 11:00am focused on “Salem’s History through the Eyes of Peter Oliver,” departing from the Garden Education Center.
📜A hands-on fire bucket brigade demonstration (in honor of Oliver’s role in Salem’s historical fire brigade) at 12:00pm at the pump on the square.
📜Guest lecture at 1:00pm in the Wachovia Room at the Old Salem Visitor Center by Sabrina Garity, Assistant Director of the Moravian Archives Southern Province, entitled “The Life and Legacy of Peter Oliver and Christina Bass”.
đź“śA "Sounds of Salem" concert in honor of Peter Oliver played on the Tannenberg Organ in the Gray Auditorium at the Old Salem Visitor Center at 2:00pm.*
*Separate ticket required https://hubs.ly/Q04hW-SC0
📸Peter Oliver's original grave marker, God's Acre Cemetery, Salem, NC. Photography by Wes Stewart.
