On April 6, 1917, the same day the U.S. entered “The Great War” on the side of Britain and her allies, it also seized Hoboken’s German-owned shipping piers and vessels. Almost overnight, Hoboken became a military town, as hundreds of officers and thousands of enlisted men took residence here to facilitate the logistics of the Embarkation Service. With an additional 14,000 civilian employees, they would oversee the transit of an estimated two million American servicemen to Europe—and then the soldiers’ return—from 1917 through 1919. Near the end of the war, General John Pershing rallied the troops for a swift conclusion to the war with the rallying cry, “Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken.”

We are pleased to invite the community to learn more about the impact of the war effort on Hoboken and the state of New Jersey, in a series of talks and tours by guest historians and Museum staff.  Topics range from the history of Fort Dix to New Jersey’s “Farmerettes,” to the songs that rallied the homefront.

Because the first series was so popular, and due to limited seating, we are asking guests to sign up in advance for these talks and tours. Reservations buttons will be posted for each talk on the Calendar page. Admission for each lecture is $10 per lecture ($5 for members), and $20 for bus tours ($10 for members), which will be collected at the door.

• August 27, 4 pm:  From Here to Over There: the WWI Legacy of Fort Dix, NJ, by Jamien Parks, veteran and historian for the United States Air Force, currently assigned to the 621st Contingency Response Wing (621 CRW), Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB MDL). ($10/$5 for members)
• September 10, 1 pm – Doughboy Monuments of Hudson County, Part I, a bus tour of WWI monuments narrated by historian Erik L. Burro. Seating is limited. ($20/$10 for members)
• September 17, 4 pm – Hoboken in WWI Documentary Films! A screening of WWI era documentary footage from the Library of Congress, introduced by Hoboken Museum Collections Manager Rand Hoppe. ($10/$5 for members)
• October 1, 4 pm – Sabotage at Black Tom, by author and historian Jules Witcover. ($10/$5 for members)
• October 8, 4 pm – The Patriot Farmerette: Woman’s Land Army in New Jersey, by author and historian Elaine Weiss. ($10/$5 for members)
• October 15, 1 pm– Doughboy Monuments of Hudson County, Part II, narrated by historian Erik L. Burro. Seating is limited. ($20/$10 for members)
• November 5, 4 pm – Camp Merritt, An American Portal to the Great War, by author and historian Howard Bartholf. ($10/$5 for members)
• November 19, 4 pm –Who Was Major General David C. Shanks? by Hoboken Museum Director Robert Foster. ($10/$5 for members)
• December 3, 4 pm – “Jungle of Weeds” to War: Fort Monmouth and WWI, by Monmouth University professor Melissa Ziobro, who is command historian for Fort Monmouth. ($10/$5 for members)
• December 10, 4 pm – Over There: Songs That Rallied the Homefront, presented by musicologist Lois Dilivio and Hoboken Museum Program Manager Eileen Lynch. ($10/$5 for members)