MaryKate Smolenski

MaryKate studies the memory of Revolutionary-era loyalism through the lens of material culture. Her dissertation examines 9 families in New England, their objects, and how loyalism was remembered over time. She argues that descendants of loyalists often reconciled their ancestors’ politics with their own American identities by ignoring or denying loyalism, and, in turn, shaped the public memory surrounding these artifacts as they were published or entered museum collections. Exploring the intersection of loyalism studies, gender, material culture, and memory studies, she highlights how genealogy was often weaponized by later generations and loyalism was omitted in order to create a more usable past. Examining objects and their associated stories reveals the spectrum of loyalty and its aftermath, offering a more complete and complex image of the Revolution and our country’s founding.

With expertise in public history, museum studies, and 18^th century history, she has previously worked with museums and historical societies, including the Newport Historical Society, Newport Restoration Foundation, History Cambridge, and the GWU Museum and Textile Museum. Prior to starting her PhD, she completed a two-year fellowship at the Preservation Society of Newport County where she re-interpreted an eighteenth-century historic house museum, Hunter House. She also co-founded the non-profit, online publication, the Coalition of Master’s Scholars on Material Culture (CMSMC), which aims to fill a gap for master’s students to share their research.