Vol 2 Num 9, (Sept.) Fall 1996
A Museum for NJARC
By Ludwell Sibley

Discussion at last month's meeting resulted in the exchange of some valuable input regarding the feasibility of a NJARC museum. In this article, Ludwell Sibley formalizes some of his ideas. All members' views are both solicited and appreciated Ed.

1. WHY A MUSEUM?

Apart from a general view that museums are a good thing, people and organization run them for a variety of reasons. In NJARC's case, the motives might be:

2. THE TARGET AUDIENCE

It is assumed that prospective museum visitors come from the general public and are of all ages. Thus is a hard group to satisfy because it requires both "hands on" displays and more static exhibits. There is also a need to address more sophisticated visitors - radio collectors/historians, amateur radio operators, and electronics professionals.

3. THE MONMOUTH COUNTY ASPECT

A strong assumption is that an NJARC museum is to be in Monmouth County. No state has a richer heritage in radio-electronics development and manufacture than New Jersey, and one can point out numerous cases where Monmouth County figured prominently. Examples:

These are purely Monmouth County examples. It would be reasonable to cover any number of other aspects of radio history in neighboring counties or the rest of the state. For example, aircraft radio was developed with major roles by Western Electric/Bell Labs at Whippany, the Aircraft Radio Corporation at Boonton, and RCA Victor at Camden. The Boonton area has been a sort of "Silicon Valley" of electronic test-equipment manufacture from the '305 to today.

4. SIMILAR OR COMPETING MUSEUMS

There is little museum coverage of radio-electronics NJARC-style in or near New Jersey. The following is believed to reflect the situation realistically:

Thus it appears that "there is a place" for an NJARC museum.