Melissa Ziobro
This Spring 2022, the pop up exhibit “Asbury Park: 150 Years of Change and Transformation — A Segregated Seashore” was installed at the Monmouth University Guggenheim Memorial Library, and a new pop up exhibit, “One Voice Is Not Enough: Asbury Park’s Musical Diversity Since 1871” was installed at the historic Berkeley-Carteret Hotel in Asbury Park. Paradoxical Paradise team member Professor Melissa Ziobro volunteered as an advisor on both of these exhibits by the Asbury Park Museum, which were funded, in part, by Monmouth University Diversity Innovation Grants.
You might recall from an earlier blog post that “Asbury Park: 150 Years of Change and Transformation — A Segregated Seashore” was previously at the Berkeley-Carteret and focuses on the history of the east side of Asbury Park, to include a discussion of segregation there. As noted above, 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. There was a soft opening over Memorial Day weekend 2021 and a formal opening ceremony held July 8, 2021, at which point display cases, mannequins in historic dress, and an audio-visual component joined 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. As planned, this exhibit moved to Monmouth University in December 2021, and remained on campus through the Spring 2022 semester.
The new exhibit “One Voice Is Not Enough: Asbury Park’s Musical Diversity Since 1871” was curated by Charlie and Pam Horner of the Asbury Park Museum, with Cain again designing and Ziobro again advising. It opened at the Berkeley-Carteret Hotel on December 18, 2021, and is expected to be there through sometime this summer. The banners are once again in beautiful, engaging, full color, with easily accessible text. The exhibit tells the story of “the first 100 years of Asbury Park music – a story told through stand-up banners, wall-mounted posters, a music soundtrack with 4 hours’ worth of selected recordings, two continuously running 35-minute informative slide … and two display cases full of Asbury Park artifacts. The exhibit covers spirituals, gospel, brass bands, marching bands, concert bands, ragtime, stride piano, jazz, blues, pop, rhythm & blues, rock & roll, doo wop, soul, and rock music from the early 1870s to the early 1970s. On display are items like Bobby Thomas’s personal 78 RPM copy of ‘Doll Face’ on the original After Hours label, plus … handwritten lyrics from the flip side; Stormin’ Norman Seldin’s classic hat; an 1898 wax cylinder by baritone J. W. Myers; an Arthur Pryor 78; sheet music by Billy Terrell & Ray Dahrouge, and Lenny Welch; a red vinyl 45 by Nicky Addeo & the Darchaes; an album and program from the Missionary Jubilaires; a Southside Johnny autographed harmonica; a framed autograph and print of Fats Waller; and much more.”
This exhibit will also eventually move to Monmouth University.
As ever, the Paradoxical Paradise team 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. See more here.
The Berkeley-Carteret Hotel, now styled the Berkeley Oceanfront 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:
Opening Reception for “One Voice Is Not Enough” exhibit – Asbury Park Museum (ap-museum.org)
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)
University Librarian Kurt Wagner, Asbury Park Museum President Kay Harris, Exhibit Designer Stan Cain, and Professor Ziobro upon installing Segregated Seashore at the Guggenheim Memorial Library in December 2021.