FORT MONMOUTH, NJ (SBN) — Fort Monmouth closed in 2011, with its missions dispersed to other military bases around the country.
Soon, the base property will become energized once more, as Netflix redevelops a large portion of the base that straddles Oceanport, Eatontown, and Tinton Falls, into a major motion picture and television production studio.
But at least one historian is making sure that Fort Monmouth’s roots in producing some of the amazing communications technologies that we take for granted today are not forgotten.
Melissa Ziobro, the last command historian at the military base, has just authored a new book, Fort Monmouth: The US Army’s House of Magic, tracing the history of the base that was for nearly a century the home of the US Army Signal Corps.
In this SBN Newsmakers program, SBN news director Steve Lubetkin chats with Melissa about the base’s historical achievements in technology and its role in popular culture. Melissa’s experience as historian at the base dovetails with her current role as curator of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University, where she is a specialist professor of history in the university’s department of history and anthropology. Springsteen played at the base’s teen club with the Castiles in the 1960s, and more recently used the former base movie theater to rehearse for one of his concert tours. There is also an interesting connection between Bruce’s “Born in the USA” album and a communications technology developed at Fort Monmouth.
You can watch the interview in the player below.
About the Guest
Melissa Ziobro
Melissa Ziobro is the Specialist Professor of Public History in the Monmouth University Department of History and Anthropology. Melissa was the last Command Historian at Fort Monmouth, NJ, prior to the base’s closure in 2011, and she is the author of the newly published book about the history of the military base. It’s called Fort Monmouth, The U.S. Army’s House of Magic.
Melissa is also the curator of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University.
She is current President of Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region, and she has served for many years as the editor for New Jersey Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, a joint venture of the NJ Historical Commission and Rutgers and Monmouth Universities.
She is a trustee of the NJ Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation, the Ocean County Historical Society, the Monmouth County Historical Association, the InfoAge Science and History Museums at the Camp Evans National Historic Landmark, and Preservation NJ.
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Steve Lubetkin is the news director for StateBroadcastNews.com. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. He refocused on multimedia journalism and podcast production after a long career in corporate branded journalism and public relations.
He has won numerous awards for his audio and video news reporting from the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced a wide range of audio and video podcasts in his other role as managing partner of State Broadcast News’s parent, The Lubetkin Media Companies.
Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional.
In March 2021, he was elected to the board of directors of the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and in July 2021 he was named secretary of the chapter. In August 2021, he was honored by SPJ with one of the organization’s 2021 Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Pro Member Awards, given to regular members of an SPJ chapter who go above and beyond in serving their chapter.
Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996.
Steve also has reported on-camera and produces virtual conferences for NJSpotlightNews.org, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC.
From May-November 2019, he produced and reported a weekly podcast, The CRE News Hour, a news and features program focusing on the commercial real estate industry.
From 2014 to 2019 he was New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com and filled in covering Chicago/Midwest and Atlanta.
Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies.
Earlier in his career, Steve reported on rock music at the Jersey Shore for the Asbury Park Press, and was a broadcast news anchor and production engineer for WJLK-AM & FM, then owned by the Press. He also worked as a general assignment reporter for the Red Bank Register, Shrewsbury, NJ.
You can email Steve at steve@statebroadcastnews.com.
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