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Ft. Monmouth

Camp Little Silver, first home of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, photo courtesy Library of Congress, public domain.
June 3, 1917

U.S. Army Signal Corps Arrives In Little Silver To Begin Construction Of Fort Monmouth

On June 3, 1917, 32 soldiers of the U.S. Army Signal Corps first arrived at the site of what would become Fort Monmouth in two Model T Ford trucks. Originally named Camp Little Silver due to its location, they built...
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Image: Pilot William D. Frayne endangering his own life by risking a side-to-side landing, while his plane was on fire over France, 1917. Frayne's bravery saved the life of his observer and won him Army Silver Star for heroism. Original illustration by Charlie Swerdlow, History Depicted, ©2024, commissioned by Monmouth Timeline.
October 17, 1918

The Silver Star: William D. Frayne of Sea Bright

By John R. Barrows   Editor’s note: Most of what we present here about hero pilot Bill Frayne’s wartime exploits is owed to Steve Ruffin and his exhaustive work with original source records as published in Over the Front, the...
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Women's Auxiliary Corps recruiting poster.
May 22, 1919

Gender Integration of the Army Advanced at Fort Monmouth

Editor’s note: On May 22, 1919, U.S. Army Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett presented the Distinguished Service Medal to Grace D. Banker of Passaic, N.J., at U.S. Army Headquarters in Coblenz, Germany, during World War I. Her citation read, in part,...
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June 22, 1938

The Soviet Spies of Fort Monmouth

Editor’s note: The story of Julius Rosenberg and the theft of the Manhattan Project atomic bomb secrets is one of the most chronicled events in American history.  Most of that coverage is focused on Rosenberg and his wife, Ethel, and...
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Photo of sign at entry to Camp Evans in Wall, N.J.
May 27, 1941

Fort Monmouth in World War II

On May 27, 1941, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared a state of unlimited national emergency in response to Nazi Germany’s threats of military aggression.  The soldiers and civilians of the U.S. Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth had been very busy...
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Photo of This antenna is a 1943 production version of the radar that tracked the incoming Japanese raid on Oahu, Hawaii on 7 December 1941 This antenna was donated by the Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. It was used by the university to study Aurora Borealis at frquencies of 58 and 106 MHz. It collected some of the very first radar echoes from the "Northern Lights"
November 20, 1941

The Defining Technology of World War II is RADAR

On Thursday, November 20, 1941, Thanksgiving Day, a new mobile electronic detection system was set up at Opana Point on Oahu, Hawai'i. Just days later, on December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, triggering the entry...
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Composite image of National Parks Service photo of SCR-270 radar similar to that used at Opana Point in 1941, public domain; and cropped screen capture of SCR-270 from movie Tora! Tora! Tora!, consistent with Fair Use Doctrine.
December 7, 1941

The Curious Story of the Two Men Who Detected the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor and Their Connection to Monmouth County

Editor’s note: This article was first published in 2020; it has been updated as of December 2, 2022, and on December 16, 2024, adding information provided by George McDonald, son of Private Joseph McDonald, switchboard operator at the Opana Point...
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September 2, 1945

Dr. Walter McAfee: Camp Evans Mathematician, Scholar, and Scientist

Editor’s note: On September 2, 1945, documents were signed finalizing the surrender of the Empire of Japan to the United States and Allied Forces, ending World War II. Within days, with victory assured, scientists at leading research centers such as...
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Photograph of Project Diana at Camp Evans, ©InfoAge Science & Technology Museums, used with permission.
January 10, 1946

Project Diana: The Beginning of the Space Age

Editor’s note: The following article and images are reprinted with permission from the InfoAge Science & History Museums website at InfoAge.org.  The InfoAge complex houses a surprising array of museums and exhibits on a variety of subjects, but it is...
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June 25, 1946

Russell S. Ohl, Inventor of the Silicon Solar Cell

On June 25, 1946, the U.S. patent office approved an application from Bell Labs for a silicon solar cell invented by Russell S. Ohl, which became U.S. Patent No. US2,402,662A, “Light sensitive device.”  It was one of more than 130...
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Map showing route and means used by Alfred Sarant when he fled the USA to Moscow. Map created by John R. Barrows.
July 26, 1950

1945 Marks the End of the Soviet Spy Ring at Fort Monmouth – or Does It?

On November 11, 1944, encrypted communications from Soviet intelligence intercepted by the FBI indicated that Alfred Sarant, a civilian engineer working at U.S. defense contractors, had been recruited as a spy; the message also set forth procedures for the transmission...
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Photo of Whitey Ford in uniform pitching for the Fort Monmouth baseball team. From The Signaleer, base newspaper, courtesy U.S. Army Signal Corps Archives, public domain.
November 29, 1950

Hall of Fame Pitcher Whitey Ford of the U.S. Signal Corps (and others…)

By Mark A. Wallinger On November 29, 1950, Edward Charles “Whitey” Ford, fresh off a World Series victory with the New York Yankees, was drafted into the army during the Korean War, and assigned to the U.S. Signal Corps at...
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Sen. Joseph McCarthy (left) chats with his attorney Roy Cohn during Senate subcommittee hearings on the McCarthy-Army dispute. United Press International telephoto. United States Library of Congress digital ID cph.3c14995, Public Domain.
October 20, 1953

Tail Gunner Joe Sets His Sights on Fort Monmouth and the Signal Corps

On October 20, 1953, U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, along with his chief aide Roy Cohn, arrived at the entry to Camp Evans, the ancillary base in Wall  that was part of the World War II expansion of Fort...
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Photo of Atlas-B with Score payload, created: January 1, 1958. U.S. Air Force photograph, Public Domain.
December 18, 1958

SCORE, The World’s First “Talking” Satellite

On December 18, 1958, the world's first "talking" satellite was successfully launched, a product of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Laboratories at Fort Monmouth in conjunction with the then-new Advanced Research Projects Agency.  Called "SCORE," which stands for “Signal Communications...
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Fort Monmouth Base historian and museum curator Helen C. Phillips. Image credit: U.S. Army Signal Corps Archives, public domain.
February 5, 1959

Helen C. Phillips: Preserving the History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps and Fort Monmouth

Editor’s Note:  On February 5, 1959, a story in the Asbury Park Press related how sharp-eyed staff working for Helen C. Phillips at the U.S. Army Signal Corps Museum prevented some priceless historical artifacts from being sold at the thrift...
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Photograph of the TIROS-1 satellite taken at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Public Domain.
April 1, 1960

TIROS-1: The World’s First Weather Satellite

On April 1, 1960, the TIROS-1 satellite sent the first televised weather photographs of the Earth’s cloud cover and weather patterns to the giant 60-foot “Space Sentry” antenna at Fort Monmouth.  The Television Infrared Observation Satellite Program (TIROS) was a...
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Mafia informer Joseph Valachi takes the oath before a US Senate investigations committee. Used under license from Getty Images.
February 5, 1963

From the Fort Monmouth Stockade, Genovese Henchman Joe Valachi Breaks the Mafia’s Code of Silence

If we let him out on the street, he'd be dead in a half an hour. Unnamed federal agent, on the need to protect star mob witness Joe Valachi Vito Genovese was among the most feared mobsters in the history...
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June 9, 1964

Shrewsbury Had Flying Jeeps but Asbury Park Had a Flying Submarine

This is a story about small airfields of Monmouth County that are now long gone. During World War II, residents of Monmouth County became accustomed to seeing a number of small aircraft, midget planes known affectionately as "Flying Jeeps" passing...
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Dr. Emily Frisby, chief climatologist at Fort Monmouth. Photo courtesy U.S. Army Signal Corps Archives, public domain.
June 8, 1968

Dr. Emily M. Frisby, Fort Monmouth Climatologist: “Weather can be made to work for the world, if it is interpreted properly.”

By Melissa Ziobro Editor’s note: On June 8, 1968, the U.S. Army began a two-day conference on tropical meteorology at the Marine Sciences Center in Coral Gables, Fla.  Noteworthy among the moderators and presenters was Dr. Emily M. Frisby (pictured...
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U.S. Army photograph of civilian scientist Marilyn Levy. Image courtesy U.S. Signal Corps Archives, public domain.
November 14, 1973

Marilyn Levy, A Genius Photo-Chemist at Fort Monmouth

By John R. Barrows On November 14, 1973, the U.S. Army Electronics Command (ECOM) presented the Army Research and Development Achievement Award to three civilian Fort Monmouth employees: Dr. Pete H. Hudson Jr., of Freehold; Louis J. Jasper Jr., from...
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Photo of Joel Barr (left) and Alfred Sarant in Greenwich Village, New York, in 1944. Photo from Barr's personal papers. Photo credit: Usdin, Steven T. (2007). Tracking Julius Rosenberg’s Lesser Known Associates: Famous Espionage Cases. Central Intelligence Agency Library, April 15, 2007.
March 12, 1979

The Legacy of the Soviet Spies at Fort Monmouth

During World War II and briefly after, Julius Rosenberg, Joel Barr and Alfred Sarant stole military secrets of the U.S. Signal Corps on behalf of the USSR.  But by 1956, Rosenberg was dead, executed along with his wife Ethel for...
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Postcard of the former Marconi Hotel building, today home to the InfoAge Science & Technology Museums. Image credit: InfoAge, used with permission.
November 20, 1999

InfoAge Science & Technology Museums

On November 20, 1999, more than 1,000 people showed up in Wall Township at the site of the former Army base Camp Evans, a part of the World War II expansion of Fort Monmouth, to visit the brand new learning...
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