Project Overview
In 2012, Superstorm Sandy swept ashore and disrupted the lives of countless residents along the east coast. In 2016, the Monmouth University Department of History and Anthropology began to collaborate with the Monmouth County Historical Association (MCHA) to create an exhibition marking the fifth anniversary of the Storm. Over the course of a year, the exhibit team partnered with libraries, churches, community centers, local government, and the general public in a crowdsourcing initiative to compile the story. This included conducting, initially, 17 oral history interviews (with more to follow).
Professor Melissa Ziobro, who served as MCHA’s guest curator for the project, noted at the time, “This is a unique opportunity to allow the citizens of Monmouth County to create their own living archive of what some have called a ‘100 year storm’.” MCHA President Linda Bricker concurred, saying, “Sandy should not be forgotten after altering the lives of so many people and communities in such a dramatic way. It is a story that will be of great interest to future generations and which should be documented while those impacted can relate personal experiences.” Several Monmouth University students assisted Professor Ziobro in the preparation of the exhibit.
The exhibition was open at the MCHA headquarters in Freehold from October 2017- October 2018. Portions of the exhibit then moved to the Monmouth County Sheriff's complex in Freehold.
In the summer of 2022, Professor Ziobro received a grant from Monmouth University's Urban Coast Institute to conduct another round of interviews (with total interviews equaling 38 as of October 2024). Her Museums and Archives Basics class then mounted a poster exhibit, based on some of the interviews, at the Monmouth University Guggenheim Memorial Library that October to mark the 10th anniversary of the Storm.
It is an honor to help document these stories.
