Dr CYNTHIA
ART & MATERIAL
Erin Chin
CULTURE HISTORIAN
about //
Dr Cynthia E. Chin (Cynthia McGinnis Riddle Chin) is an art and material culture historian of #VastEarlyAmerica, specializing in dress, textiles, identity, and collecting.
As a PhD researcher at the University of Glasgow, Cynthia examines collections of dress, textiles, and art 1600-1830 to understand how private collections, individual collectors, and museum acquisitions strategies shaped notions of early America. She explored these questions as a 2023-2024 Winterthur Fellow.
As an advocate of replication as a valid research approach, she incorporates embodied methods of knowledge in her academic practice, focusing on early American dress in British North America –– and Scottish kilts and kilt-making. In 2024, after eight years of study, she recreated a gown owned by Martha Washington that was mended and cared for by seamstresses enslaved at Mount Vernon. The gown was on view in "New Nation, Many Hands" at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut from 2 July 2024 - 8 November 2024. A press release is available for institutions, museum professionals, and scholars. To request one, please use the contact form.
Formerly on staff at George Washington's Mount Vernon/The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, Cynthia was also a 2020-21 Research Fellow at the Washington Presidential Library. She earned her doctorate in early American material culture from Georgetown University in 2020 and holds an M.A. in poetry from The Johns Hopkins University. Her writing has been published in literary journals.
Adding a background of business to her academic and museum experience, Cynthia served industry and public sector clients as a strategy & analytics consultant at Deloitte Consulting LLC (Monitor Deloitte) and independently for PwC. She continues to consult for corporate clients, non-profits, and public-private partnerships.
Replication of Martha Washington's purple silk gown, 2024, Cynthia E. Chin. Original in the collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society.
historic interior design //
CYNTHIA CHIN
historic interiors
With her team of trusted professionals at ACG Historic Home Renovation and Interiors,
Cynthia specializes in stunning and sensitive interior design for public and private historic homes. From selecting and installing wall coverings, fabricating window draperies and bed hangings, sourcing antiques and textiles, to designing and project managing complete bath and kitchen renovations, Cynthia creates enveloping, immersive period rooms that harmonize modern lifestyles or institutional needs with archival and material research. She has worked with companies such as Adelphi Paper Hangings, the Gainsborough Silk Weaving Company, and deVOL Kitchens to deliver fresh, inspiring, preservation-minded spaces.
publications //
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Materializing Race //
Cynthia co-founded and leads Materializing Race with Philippe Halbert (PhD, Yale University), a virtual community committed to fostering nuanced interpretations and meaningful dialogue on historical constructions of race and their legacies. Through a series of virtual “un-conferences," scholarship on the intersections of identity and material culture in #VastEarlyAmerica are discussed and shared. Materializing Race has been generously supported by the Society of Winterthur Fellows and the University of Glasgow. Follow Materializing Race on on Instagram: materializingrace, and on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @material_race.
