The nonprofit organization governing the ongiong restoration of the historic Parker Homestead (above) has named Monmouth University faculty member and historian Melissa Ziobro (below) to its Board of Trustees.
Press release from Parker Homestead-1665
The Parker Homestead-1665 has named Melissa Ziobro to its Board of Trustees. A Specialist Professor of Public History at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, Ziobro currently teaches courses in Public History, Oral History, and Museums and Archives Management.
Her service to the University includes administration of the Monmouth Memories Oral History Program. Earlier this year Ziobro began recording the oral history of Parker Homestead by interviewing Robert Sickles Sr. — nephew of Julia Parker, who deeded the property to Little Silver — about his memories of Julia and life on the Homestead.
“We are thrilled to have Melissa on our Board,” said Bob Sickles, third generation owner of Sickles Market and President of the Parker Homestead-1665 Board of Trustees. “She brings a wealth of historical expertise, energy and enthusiasm to our mission.”
Ziobro serves on the Executive Board of Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region and as the editor for New Jersey Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, a joint venture of the NJ Historical Commission, Rutgers University Libraries, and Monmouth University. She has worked with public history organizations such as the InfoAge Science History Learning Center and Museum, Monmouth County Park System, Monmouth County Historical Association, Monmouth County Historical Commission, Middlesex County Office of Culture and Heritage, National Guard Militia Museum of NJ, and more. She worked as a command historian at the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Fort Monmouth, NJ from 2004-2011. Publications include her most recent article, on Colonel William Blair, father of American Aircraft Detection Radar, in On Point: The Journal of Army History.
The Parker Homestead, one of the oldest homes in America, recently celebrated the completion of restoration to three barns on the Homestead with a ribbon cutting that included special guest speaker, Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno.
The barn renovations are part of an ongoing restoration to the Homestead, which is the result of the combined efforts of the Borough of Little Silver and The Parker Homestead-1665 – a private, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation that encourages and guides the restoration and use of The Parker Homestead. The borough and non-profit organization have worked closely together since the property was first deeded to the borough in ensuring the historic preservation of the site.
