Smucker, TMFD graduate, has book listed on 2013 "New York Times" gift guide

05 Dec 2013    

Having your book included on the “New York Times” Holiday Gift Guide is an honor and distinction that UNL graduate Janneken Smucker recently earned. Her book, “Amish Quilts: Crafting an American Icon,” is on the Times list of antique coffee table books to purchase. Smucker, assistant professor of history at West Chester University in West Chester, PA, completed her master’s degree in textile history from the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design in UNL’s College of Education and Human Sciences in 2003.

In her book, Smucker points out that she is a 5th generation Mennonite quiltmaker who learned to quilt from her grandmother. Smucker specializes in digital history and American material culture. She is a consulting curator for the International Quilt Study Center and Museum at UNL and has served as a board member for the national non-profit, Quilt Alliance since 2005. Her previous publications include contributions to “‘Work by Hand: Hidden Labor and Historical Quilts” (Brooklyn Museum, 2013), “Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and Stephen Brown” (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2009) and “Midwestern Amish Crib Quilts: The Sara Miller Collection” (Good Books, 2003). Janneken earned her PhD in the History of American Civilization from the University of Delaware. You can learn more about Smucker at janneken.org.