Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors consists of museum professionals, coverlet enthusiasts, and architectural experts. They are experienced, “can-do” people with a commonsense, practical attitude, who recognize, respect and credit the work of others and who know that big things can be accomplished without spending huge dollars. They share the vision, agree on how best to achieve it, and are working cohesively to accomplish the goal.

Edward Maeder (Massachusetts) – Recently retired from his position as Director of Exhibitions and Curator of Textiles at Historic Deerfield, Mr. Maeder has organized over 50 exhibitions and written for numerous publications. He has held curatorial positions at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and he was Founding Director of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada . Mr. Maeder has served as consultant to many renowned institutions in the U.S. and abroad; and he has taught at the University of Minnesota, the University of Southern California , Abegg Stiftung (Bern, Switzerland), and the Costume College in Van Nuys, California . He has lectured on costumes, textiles, conservation and collections in 26 states and 18 foreign countries. Mr. Maeder is an expert in the complete timeline of textile history, and how coverlets fit into the picture.

Richard Jeryan (Michigan) – Retired technical leader in vehicle design research and advanced engineering at Ford Motor Company. Mr. Jeryan’s extensive and varied work as a registered professional engineer included the development of fiber reinforced polymer and other lightweight materials in vehicle body and chassis structures, with particular emphasis on crashworthiness. Since his retirement, his longtime commitment to textiles has led to his work at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, where he studies, teaches and practices the weaving craft. There, he designs the fabrics and oversees the weaving in the Village Weaving Shop. At The Loom Room in Staffordshire, UK, he studied the design of Jacquard fabrics and the preparation of punched cards; and he restored the Jacquard loom at Greenfield Village. Mr. Jeryan weaves at home and at a local Detroit art center. He is co-owner of Fell’s Edge LLC, selling fiber and fine woven goods. He is particularly interested in the important role textiles played in the development of the social and technological fabric of America.

Ellen Campbell Pskowski (Maryland) -- Ellen and her husband Harry spend their summer and vacation time at the family farm on Glade Pike in Manns Choice (PA).   A clinical social worker practicing psychotherapy in Rockville, Maryland, Ellen also writes fiction.  Her work has been widely published.  The recipient of fellowships in 2009, 2010 and 2012 at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, her fiction has placed in competitions including The Iron Horse Fiction Collection Contest and The Hunger Mountain Short Fiction Contest.  Many of her stories are set in Bedford County, which happens to be near her paternal grandfather’s birthplace.  Ellen holds an MFA from The Bennington Writing Seminars, an MSW from Simmons College, and a BA from Smith College.  Ellen’s mother was a world-class knitter, and Ellen’s daughters carry on that tradition.  Daughter Martha studied weaving at Sandy Spring Friends School, winning prizes at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.  Inspired by her daughters and the Zongors, Ellen has tried introductory weaving and drop spindle spinning classes.  A charter member of the Museum, Ellen is delighted and honored to serve on the Board.

Christine Jeryan (Michigan) - A 30-year interest in textiles has led Mrs. Jeryan to the study of tartan weaving, fabric finishing, collapse weaves, historic American textiles, 19th-century rugs, and more. She has spent her career in Museum Services, scientific research, writing and editing, and a myriad of special projects. She has been an independent contractor associated with the Plymouth Center for Human Development, the Cranbrook Institute of Science, the Gale Group, and the Henry Ford Museum, all in Michigan. Her activities have included publishing the local Sherlock Homes Society newsletter, volunteering at the Heritage Spinning and Weaving (Lake Orion, MI), and memberships in the Michigan Weavers Guild and the Handweavers Guild of America. She is co-owner with her husband Richard of Fell’s Edge LLC, selling fiber and fine handwoven goods. She currently volunteers at Greenfield Village (the Henry Ford Museum), where she performs a wide range of textile-related research work and is responsible for training presenters, dressing the looms for weaving, and demonstrating weaving to the public.

Mike Pasquerette (Maryland) – Mike has worked in the Information Technology field for over 20 years, the last 15 at Hood College in Frederick MD.  Mike is a weaver and especially enjoys coverlets and overshot weaving patterns of the 19th century.  He and his family reside in a pre-Civil War period home in Sharpsburg MD.  His wife Mary and daughter Emmeline are active in their local rug hookers guild, the Association of Traditional Hooking Artists; and all three Pasquerettes volunteer at guild events.  An accomplished musician, Mike has played for 12 years with the 105th PA Wildcat Regiment Band out of Indiana, PA as well as the Spires Brass Band out of Frederick, MD.

C. Douglas Schmidt (Maryland) – President, Cumberland Cultural Foundation, overseeing the C. William Gilchrist Gallery in Cumberland , Maryland (site of the Zongors’ coverlet exhibition in June, 2005). Mr. Schmidt is a past Board member of the Hanover Area Historical Society in York County, Pennsylvania, where he managed its annual antique show, the Society’s primary fundraiser. He served as a Cumberland representative on the Board of Directors of the Bedford Springs [PA] Festival of Arts. He has had a 50-year interest in architecture, historic preservation, and the American decorative arts, having championed the preservation of architecturally significant historic buildings, and is a self-described 40-year-or-more “auction hound.” He is the former owner of the John Abbot house (John Abbot was founder of Abbottstown, PA), a restored residence now functioning as an antique shop.

Ron Walter (Pennsylvania) - Researcher/Collector/Author. Mr. Walter has been researching Bucks County figured and fancy coverlets and their weavers for over 35 years. To date he has recorded almost 300 coverlets woven in Bucks County. For the last 10 years he has broadened his interest and research to cover all types of coverlets woven in United States in the late 18th and the 19th centuries. Over these many years he and his wife Kitty Bell Walter have been collecting antiques and tools used in the home and on the farm. They have held a special interest in textiles and tools related to textile production in the home and weaving shop. Ron has assisted Joel Alderfer in preparing coverlet exhibitions at the Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania Museum in 1987 and 1998. For many years Ron and Kitty Bell have been members of the Bucks County Historical Society, the Early American Industries Association and the Colonial Coverlet Guild of America. Recently he has been collecting and researching spinning wheels and hetchels and their makers. His written articles have appeared in a wide variety of publications.

Special Advisor

Eva Burnham (Montreal, Canada) – Costume and textile conservator/restorer. Ms. Burnham has 35 years of experience with textiles of all types and origins. She trained at the renowned Abegg Foundation in Riggisberg, Switzerland (near Bern), a world center for textile conservation, and was responsible for the creation of the textile conservation laboratory at the Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa. Her associations have included Toronto ’s Royal Ontario Museum and Montreal’s McCord Museum of Canadian History. If the Burnham name sounds familiar, it is because the love of textiles runs in her family. She is the daughter-in-law of textile historian (the late) Dorothy Burnham, author of KEEP ME WARM ONE NIGHT: Early Handweaving in Eastern Canada, the groundbreaking Canadian work that recognized coverlets as far more than domestic craft.

Honorary Board Member Martha Jack.

Martha Jack (NY State) is a true pioneer in coverlet stewardship. The National Museum of the American Coverlet honors her many years of devoted service to the “cause” of coverlets.

Museum Director/Curator

Melinda Zongor. Mrs. Zongor has a 35-year interest in antiques, including 20 years in the antiques trade, specializing in coverlets. She has been a weaver, both independently and for a custom, high-end weaving house. In 1988 she curated and wrote the catalog for the Hirschl & Adler Folk (NYC, New York) exhibit “Warm and Wonderful: The Jacquard Coverlet.” She is author of the books Coverlets and the Spirit of America: The Shein Collection and Coverlets at the Gilchrist: American Coverlets 1771-1889. Her contributions to the newsletter for the Colonial Coverlet Guild of America, include her article entitled “A National Coverlet Museum: We Need One,” written in October of 2003. On the Board of Directors of the Antiques Council, she served as Director of Education, in charge of their annual publication of educational articles written by Council members.

Her previous experience includes audience development for the then-fledgling Hartman Regional Theatre Company in Stamford, Connecticut. Other associations include NBC (National Broadcasting Company) and the Theatre in America department of WNET (the public television station), both located in Manhattan .

The Zongors have presented coverlet exhibits, lectures, technical consults and general advice for collectors, the antiques trade, the feature film industry, print media, and a variety of groups, large and small. They have helped build several major coverlet collections and have dedicated their lives together to educating about, and raising awareness and appreciation of, coverlets.

Melinda and Laszlo Zongor are members of the Colonial Coverlet Guild of America, and former members of the Antiques Council, the New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Association (NHADA), and the Antiques Dealers Association (ADA).

They have made a fulltime commitment to the Museum.

Conservator/Registrar

A full-time Conservator/Registrar will be added as soon as possible.