Monmouth University Names Army Historian Melissa Ziobro as Springsteen Archives Curator
She’s In Charge!
In August 2023, Melissa Ziobro took charge of Monmouth University's Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music. She brings fresh insight from her time as a U.S. Army historian and public history specialist.
Her path to the Springsteen Center started years ago. Back in 2019, she created the center's first traveling display, "Springsteen: His Hometown," with local history groups. Before that, she spent time starting in 2004 working with military records and items as an Army historian.
Now at Monmouth, she teaches students about keeping track of the past. Her classes mix basic skills with deep dives into specific times like the Vietnam War and New Jersey's story. Students learn how to record people's memories and share history with others.
She's writing two books that show what she knows best. Next year brings "Fort Monmouth: The US Army's House of Magic." After that comes "The Battlin' Bastards of Bravo," which tells the story of soldiers from the 101st Airborne in Vietnam.
The Springsteen Center stands as a key part of music studies at Monmouth University. With Ziobro in charge, it keeps working to save important pieces of American music for future generations.
She's taught more than twelve different subjects to college students. This shows how much she understands about both local stories and big moments in American history. Her students benefit from her mix of hands-on work and book learning.
