Melissa Ziobro
On May 14, Professor Melissa Ziobro of the Paradoxical Paradise project won a Diversity Innovation Grant from Monmouth University to help fund a traveling exhibit on the history of the east side of Asbury Park, to include a discussion of segregation there. Ziobro volunteered her time to serve as an advisor on this exhibit, with Kay Harris and her team at the Asbury Park Museum in the lead and Stan Cain providing professional design support.
Titled, “Asbury Park: 150 Years of Change and Transformation — A Segregated Seashore,” the pop-up exhibit is currently installed at the historic Berkeley-Carteret Hotel in Asbury Park. There was a soft opening over Memorial Day weekend and a formal opening ceremony held 8 July, at which point display cases, mannequins in historic dress, and an audio-visual component had been added to the panels of the exhibition. Dignitaries in attendance at the opening included Congressman Frank Pallone, NJ Assembly Members Eric Houghtaling & Joann Downey, Sylvia Sylvia of the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce, and more.
The banners are in beautiful, engaging, full color, with digestible chunks of text made for consumption by the general public. They provide an overview of the history of Asbury Park’s east side, address the segregation that has plagued Asbury Park’s history in the past, and encourages viewers to wrestle with the perils of gentrification in the present. These banners will move to Monmouth University’s library after the exhibit’s initial run at the Berkeley-Carteret.
Everyone from Monmouth University involved in the Paradoxical Paradise project wants to ensure that the University isn’t impeding or duplicating work being done by the community themselves. Maintaining close ties with community groups, and sharing our time, expertise, and, importantly, resources, is one way that we hope to demonstrate this.
The all-volunteer Asbury Park Museum builds on the success of the Asbury Park Historical Society and is in the process of acquiring a permanent home in downtown Asbury Park, just in time for the 150th anniversary of the city’s founding in 2021. See more here.
The Berkeley-Carteret Hotel has been a fixture in Asbury Park for close to 100 years. It currently offers 257 rooms, and is just steps from the Asbury Park boardwalk. The potential reach of the exhibit is great, with thousands likely to see it during its time at the Hotel alone. See more about the Hotel here.
Melissa Ziobro is Specialist Professor of Public History in the Department of History and Anthropology at Monmouth University.
Read more:
Asbury Park Museum offers a pop-up tour of “A Segregated Seashore” ‹ Asbury Park Sun
Our Current Rotating Exhibits – Asbury Park Museum (ap-museum.org)