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Community Corner

Tudor Place Appoints New Curator

Erin Kuykendall brings an expertise in American material culture to the historic house.

Historic House and Garden recently appointed Erin Kuykendall as curator of collections.

“I feel so fortunate to be here and to have such a wealth of resources at my disposal,” said Kuykendall. “This house strikes me as really special.”

Tudor Place was home to six generations of direct descendents of Martha Washington. It is a National Historic Landmark and contains a collection of over 10,000 objects dating from 1795 to 1983. The collection includes one of three surviving letters that George Washington wrote to Martha, as well as a waxwork made by Samuel Fraunces for the first lady.

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As curator of collections, Kuykendall will maximize the historic potential of these objects through research, historically accurate presentation and the placement of informative text in exhibits and installations.

“Letting the objects tell the stories is, I think, really important for the curator,” said Kuykendall. “I see my role as bringing those stories to life and helping Tudor Place share those stories with the public.”

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Kuykendall is Tudor Place’s first full-time curator in over three years. For the past several years, the historic home’s staff has prioritized inventory and cataloguing, rather than research. These archival tasks are typically carried out by the collections manager, so using funds to hire a curator did not make fiscal sense.

However, with much of the inventory and cataloguing finished, this is no longer the case.

“We’ve certainly got to the stage where we really need that curatorial person,” said Tudor Place Collections Manager Fay Winkle.

Kuykendall is more than qualified for the job. She is a specialist in early American material culture and a graduate of the University of Delaware’s Winterthur Program in American Material Culture. She has a comprehensive knowledge of decorative arts, architectural history and historical archaeology.

“She comes with a broad understanding and an appreciation for objects within a historic site,” said Leslie Buhler, the executive director of Tudor Place.

With Kuykendall’s help, Georgetown residents will be able to appreciate the historic value of Tudor Place more than ever.

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