Join Specialist Professor in Public History Melissa Ziobro’s Museums and Archives Management Basics students on Oct. 28 as they unveil a poster exhibit that pairs excerpts from oral history interviews with archival photos in order to document and interpret Superstorm Sandy’s impact on Monmouth County. The 16-panel exhibit will remain on display at Monmouth University’s Murry & Leonie Guggenheim Memorial Library through Dec. 9.
Over the summer, Ziobro completed 21 oral history interviews with homeowners, first responders, government officials, non-profit leaders, social workers, and others impacted by the storm, which made landfall in New Jersey on Oct. 29, 2012. The interviews, conducted in advance of the 10th anniversary of the storm, join 17 others she conducted for the fifth anniversary. Together, the recordings and transcripts create an invaluable record for generations to come, adding to our understanding not just of Sandy as a historic event, but contributing to conversations on themes including coastal resilience, climate change, environmental justice, public/private partnerships, and emergency preparedness.
The event, “Tracking Sandy: Monmouth County Remembers,” will begin at 3 p.m. at the library. Following brief remarks by Urban Coast Institute (UCI) Associate Director Tom Herrington, light refreshments will be served.
The recent oral history work was supported with a faculty enrichment grant through the UCI’s Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars Program.
The panel is one of four free events being offered by Monmouth University to examine the disaster from a wide range of historic, economic and environmental perspectives. The others are:
- The hybrid in-person/livestream panel event “To Build or Not to Build: That is the Question – Lessons We Haven’t Learned 10 Years After Superstorm Sandy,” on Oct. 27 at 1:30 p.m.
- The “Documenting and Interpreting Superstorm Sandy” virtual panel on Oct. 28 at noon.
- A screening for the documentary film “The Jersey Storm: Sandy in Monmouth County” on Oct. 28 at 1:30 p.m. at Monmouth University’s Pollak Theatre.
For questions or more information about these events, email uci@monmouth.edu.