Emily Whitted, a doctoral candidate in the history department in UMass Amherst's College of Humanities & Fine Arts, has been named a Groundbreaking Graduate Student for March 2026.

Whitted’s research examines the story of textile repair in early America, revealing a fascinating and understudied piece of this country’s history. Her dissertation project, “Darned, Patched, and Mended: Repairing Textiles in Early America,” explores the economics, gender dynamics, and material meanings of textile repair work in the U.S. between 1750 and 1850.

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“My project is committed to intimate glimpses into early Americans’ worlds and the choices they’re making about their personal belongings,” says Whitted. “This is very relevant today in thinking about how we care for the objects around us. We all have things in our lives that we’d go to great lengths to preserve, and this is really powerful in helping to counteract the broader global impulses to buy, buy, buy.”  

Whitted has previously been awarded many major research fellowships in the Northeast, as well as the UMass History Department’s Simon & Satenig Ermonian Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching. Her work has been featured in museum exhibitions, and she has presented at numerous conferences and symposia. She has also been an invited speaker at a variety of museums and historic institutions around the East Coast, sharing her research with diverse audiences.  

“Emily’s pathbreaking work on mending, together with her already-strong reputation in the fields of both textile curation and early American history, ensures that her research [..] will find traction not only among historians, but also in the nation’s museums,” says Whitted’s advisor, Marla R. Miller, distinguished professor of history in the UMass Amherst College of Humanities & Fine Arts.  

Learn more about Whitted and her research in this profile, and find more information on the Groundbreaking Graduate Student award on the award website.