The Coast Star
February 14, 2008

A new DVD based on the work of Professor Robert Johnson Jr., who conducted a series of oral histories in the early 1990s, will be shown at the Marconi Hotel, located at Camp Evans in Wall, at 6 p.m. on Feb. 21.

This DVD highlights the resourcefulness, productivity and patriotism of men and women of African American heritage who worked at Camp Evans. Camp Evans was Fort Monmouth's secret radar labo­ratory. The showing is spon­sored by the New Jersey Coast Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers [IEEE] and InfoAge. The IEEE is the world's leading professional association for the advance­ment of technology.

During the great civil rights

struggles of the 1960s, as the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was leading marches for civil rights, many persons with African American her­itage were employed at Camp Evans. Some were Ph.D.s, accomplished engineers, deco­rated officers and respected managers. They were the heads of top secret defense projects, held top secret clear­ances and helped develop advanced radar and defense systems that would protect America during the Cold War.

As WW II was approaching, the U.S. Army Signal Corps faced the massive need for trained and experienced radio engineers and scientists. They hired qualified persons regard­less of race or religion. Given the opportunity to achieve and contribute, persons with African American heritage excelled. They demonstrated the spirit and personal heroism that would help win WW II.