Paula Johnson

Paula J. Johnson is a curator and public historian at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. She conducts research and collects objects relating to the history and culture of American food and wine and serves as the Director of the Smithsonian's Food History Project. Johnson was one of the curators who collected Julia Child's home kitchen in 2001 and led the team that created "FOOD: Transforming the American Table," a multi-layered exhibition that explores the major changes in food production, distribution, and consumption in the United States since the 1950s. She has shaped and contributed to many public programs on food history, including cooking demonstrations, wine history events, and the Smithsonian’s annual “Food History Weekend.” Johnson received the Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar in the Humanities Award in 2020. Johnson has published articles on food history and American maritime communities and is a member of the editorial collective of "Gastronomica: The Journal for Food Studies." She lives in Washington, DC, and on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.