Monmouth County Historical Association Kicks Off Oral History Project – The Two River Times

By Rick Geffken

By Rick Geffken

Monmouth County history is more than a collection of dusty old books, tattered letters and fading black and white photographs sitting in boxes or stacked on shelves. A new oral history project by the Monmouth County Historical Association (MCHA) aims to show that the lives of people and events happening to all of us today are worth preserving for future historians.

The project got underway Dec. 23 when its originators, MCHAcolleagues Dana Howell and Joe Zemla, sat down to speak with Harriet Bernsteinand Luisa Paster to record the married couples story of their successful 2008lawsuit against the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. Bernstein and Pasterhad been denied permission to get married in a civil union ceremony at the Methodistcommunitys boardwalk gazebo. A New Jersey judge ruled against the Methodistorganization.

The idea for the oral history project began six months ago whenHowell, a research librarian atthe MCHA, was intrigued by the concept during one of her archivistcertification classes. We realized there was a deficit in our holdings thatneeded to be addressed, namely the lack of more culturally diverse stories,she said. The MCHA has a treasure trove of historic gems spanning severalcenturies of history. We just thought it was time to broaden the cultural scopeto make our offerings more relevant to a wider audience.

She began brainstorming the idea with Zemla, an associate curatorat the Freehold-based organization. He did a quick survey of the MCHA holdings.Were obviously strong in 18th and 19th centurycollections but lacking in others, he said. The timing of the oral historyproject fit nicely with the MCHAs new strategic plans for renewing its missionto preserve and celebrate the history of Monmouth County for everyone.President Linda Bricker enthusiastically endorses the idea. This project fitsthat objective so well, she said.

We knew we were going to have to be very proactive to accomplishour goal of diversification, Howell explained. Often well get calls aboutdonations that start with, I dont know if this is old enough for you guys,but

As it turned out, Bernsteinand Paster contacted Howell after she had reached out to Garden State Equality,a statewide LGBTQ advocacy and education organization. The recent Decemberinterview with the couple was conducted at the MCHA-owned CovenhovenHouse in Freehold. Although the 1738 Dutch colonial-style home was chosen forits privacy, the setting made for a nice contrast with the 21stcentury Monmouth County zeitgeist Bernstein and Paster represent. Futureinterviews will be conducted at MCHA headquarters or other locations convenientto participants.

The four-channel video recordertechnology used for the interviews is unassuming, which encourages candor fromthe interviewees. The interviewers themselves have an informal conversationalstyle which puts participants at ease right away.

The two MCHA staffers are hopingto do one recorded interview per month. Now that the project has started, Zemlabelieves it will become self-sustaining after a while as people come forwardwith interesting accounts of events in their lives. These will be cataloguedand added to the organizations 70 Court St. library in Freehold, andeventually posted on the MCHAs website.

The long-range plan for the MCHAoral history project is to include a wide variety of groups, interviewed inphases, such as the long-established African American community, the morerecently arrived Hispanic community, senior citizens and the Jewish community,especially for stories their grandparents have passed down from World War II.Others on the wish list are military veterans and survivors and families ofvictims of the 9/11 terrorist attack of the Twin Towers who will be visitingNew York for the 20th anniversary next year.

Howell said they are open toideas. Well continue to record stories from all the previous groups as wemove through each phase. After that, well continue the program to includepretty much anyone who has an interesting story to tell.

The MCHA will accept oral histories collected by other people to add to its collection as well. Anyone interested in contributing to the oral history project can use the special email address: digitalarchives@monmouthhistory.org. Howell and Zemla can also be reached via the MCHA website monmouthhistory.org or at 732-462-1466.

This article originally appeared in the Jan. 9, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.

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Monmouth County Historical Association Kicks Off Oral History Project - The Two River Times