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The Eden Woolley House
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Ocean’s Heritage, Winter 2017
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A century ago this year, the United States entered World War I
New Jersey and the Great War
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he Second World War looms large in our cultural consciousness. The unambiguous rightness of the cause. The countless books and movies. The familiar family stories and firsthand accounts of surviving veterans. Not so the First. We know less, relate less, think less about World War I. Its veterans are gone. Its cause was complex and its alliances confusing. Its senseless carnage (17 million civilian and military dead) is painful to revisit.
ren Harding, fresh from a round of golf at the Somerset Hills Country Club, signed the Knox–Porter Resolution at the home of New Jersey U.S. Senator Joseph Frelinghuysen in Raritan Borough.
In between (1917-1919)
When the U.S. entered the war, the country was ill-prepared for combat. Quickly, existing camps were expanded and new ones created to prepare newly recruited troops—including 38 facilities in New Jersey. Bergen County’s Camp Merritt was It’s time to remember the largest embarkation site in the naApril 6 marks the 100th anni- Soldiers at Camp Alfred Vail, later named Fort Monmouth. tion. More than a million servicemen versary of this country’s entry into In May 1917, the Army leased a 468-acre tract in Little Silver, one of passed through there before shipping The Great War, as it was called at four sites created to train Signal Corps reservists and build the commu- off from Jersey ports. the time. Though largely forgotten, nications capabilities needed for the war. Originally called Camp Little New Jersey’s role in the war—be- Silver, its name quickly changed to Camp Alfred Vail in honor of a pio- What’s your story? On June 25, our Museum will fore, during, and after official U.S. neer of telegraph technology. It was renamed Fort Monmouth in 1925. premiere, “New Jersey and The Photo from Joseph Bilby, National Guard Militia Museum, Sea Girt participation—was both critical Great War: Local Stories of World and fascinating. Events are planned War I.� We are actively searching for throughout the state to tell the story—inwork of German agents intent on stopping local information, documents, artifacts, cluding a major exhibit at the Eden Woolmunitions shipments to the Allies. The and photographs. ley House. blast destroyed the site and the surroundPlease contact the Museum (732-531War comes early to New Jersey ing area, blew out windows in NYC, and 2136 or oceanmuseum@yahoo.com) if you War broke out in Europe between the damaged the Statue of Liberty. have information or memorabilia to share. Allied Forces and the Central Powers in Less than six months later, an ammuWe’d love to include your family stories of the August 1914. The U.S. remained officially nition plant in Lyndhurst was destroyed war in the upcoming exhibit. neutral. But unofficially, we took sides. by a saboteur’s bomb. American factories supplied the Allies New Jersey felt the devastation of enCentennial website with military hardware—much of it manu- emy attacks months before the U.S. sent its factured in and shipped from New Jersey. first American soldier into battle. he state archives, state By 1917, ours was the country’s largest ammuseum, Rutgers, NJ NaThe war stays late munition-producing state—a role that did tional Guard Militia Museum, Though hostilities ended November 11, not go unnoticed by the Central Powers. and others have collaborated 1918, The Great War was not officially over Two New Jersey sites became the taron New Jersey’s World War 1 for the U.S. Despite President Woodrow get of German sabotage. Centennial Website. Check it Wilson’s best efforts, the U.S. Congress reOn July 30, 1916, a Jersey City pier out at: fused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. known as “Black Tom� exploded with the worldwar1centennial.org The war ended officially for the U.S. force of a 5.5 magnitude earthquake, the July 2, 1921. On that day, President War-
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