WALL – Sprawling over what was once the Marconi wireless telegraph station, the InfoAge Science History Learning Center takes visitors back through the beginnings of telecommunications, weaponry, and space research.
As information technology developed, the location later became an RCA research lab which was subsequently taken over by the U.S. Navy during the First World War. From there, the complex morphed into the Camp Evans Signal Corps Research and Development laboratory from the time of WWII until the late 1990s. The ignition sequencers for the first atomic bombs were produced at this location, and the site’s military importance spawned the telecommunications age.
It was here during the 1940s that some of America’s leading scientists worked on Project Diana, which sought to bounce radio signals off the moon for communications. Named for the Roman goddess who was symbolized by the moon, the secret project laid the groundwork for the more ambitious NASA programs that would follow decades later.
Now a national historic landmark, InfoAge is really a collection of exhibits, some of which are as large as a warehouse or as small as one room. The displays are lovingly curated by museum trustee R. Steven Lang and a largely volunteer staff who are knowledgeable, approachable, and eager to educate the minds of young and old alike.
Many of the smaller displays are housed within the main building at the site, referred to as “the hotel” by the staff. Here, one may visit the New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Center, the World War I Technology display, and a re-created fallout shelter exhibit.
Still other exhibits include an African American history display, one dedicated to the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and New Jersey’s Native American population, the Lenni Lenape.
Among the star attractions is the Radio Technology Museum. The expansive space is literally a walking tour through telecommunications, from its infancy (the telegraph) through to the modern age and the advent of the cellular phone. Here, visitors will find such things as crank phones, rotary phones and even relics that were once referred to as “phone booths.”
The volunteer staff can take you on a walking tour of how telecommunications developed, marking milestones in history and adding insightful yarns about the colorful pioneers who moved the field forward.
“I’d always wanted to find somebody who could help me or could fix my antique radios for me,” says volunteer museum guide Jim Doran. “I showed up here and I thought, ‘I can talk these guys into doing it.’ And it worked the other way around. In fact, I was easily hooked on volunteering here once I saw the museum and the wonderful stuff they have.” Doran, a retired operations officer who recruited spies for the C.I.A., has been a volunteer at InfoAge for just over seven years.
“You could certainly spend [five hours] here in the Radio Technology Museum if you wanted to,” says Doran regarding the many exhibits at InfoAge. “We encourage people to come early and come often.”
But that is only a small part of what is contained here. The rooms are filled with antiques that span the Twentieth Century, from handheld transistor radios to beautifully crafted sets that functioned as furnishings to accessorize one’s home. There are a number of interactive displays in this area including working phones, a switchboard, and even an early television broadcast camera that displays visitors’ images on an antique television.
Military buffs will enjoy the WWII communication center, which houses the U.S. Army Signal Corps electronics collection.
Following along with the same time period is a diorama exhibit by the U.S. Marine Corps of a typical 1940s living room. In this exhibit, one will see period pieces of furniture from an American home where an antique radio in the mock-up parlor plays musical programs from the era.
Nearby is another room containing the WWII Military Miniatures and Artifact Museum Gallery. Re-created battle scenes, all in miniature, are showcased here with grim accuracy detailing the stark brutality of combat during the 1940s.
For those favoring a nautical flair, the New Jersey Shipwreck Museum contains salvaged artifacts from famous maritime disasters. Interesting and heartbreaking all at once, the exhibit is presented with the respect and solemnity that such a topic deserves.
One may also visit the Merchant Marine Communications Exhibit where members of the public can gain knowledge about the equipment utilized by a Radio Electronics Officer and other members of a ship’s crew.
Model train enthusiasts will enjoy the expansive layouts at InfoAge, which dominate the two rooms they occupy. Here, interactive scenes of various gauges are displayed, and the staff is eager to relate stories of the actual railroads that inspired these scale-model reproductions.
Whether one is a “tech kid” or is employed as an I.T. professional, it is very likely that every visitor to the computer exhibit will come away having learned something new after visiting the Vintage Computer Federation Museum.
Laid out as a walk-through loop, visitors move through our digital history passing computers so large that they would fill a modern office. From technological dinosaurs as large as a refrigerator, the machines decrease to stand-alone consoles, eventually reaching familiar desktop personal computers like the early Apple II, Commodore 64, or some other digital fossil. The exhibit’s staff is exceedingly knowledgeable, and can likely answer any question about hardware, software, or programming with a binary alacrity.
Over in the Military Technology Museum of New Jersey, one can walk through the site’s vast collection of vehicles. The sheer number of these historic military vehicles makes a visit to the InfoAge site worthwhile, with a number of impressive displays to be seen.
This portion of the InfoAge experience is one of the cornerstones of the site, and the volunteer staff at the museum urges visitors to budget their time to make sure that this particular attraction is not hurried through.
“I feel right at home,” says volunteer museum guide Bob Maddox. “The people I’m working with, it’s amazing, some of the intelligence there.” Maddox, a retired Navy pilot, has been a volunteer at InfoAge for three years.
Apart from the main site, just a short walk away is the InfoAge Space Exploration Center (ISEC), unmistakably marked by the giant, operating radio dish antenna that sits adjacent to the parking area for the building. Patrons can learn about radio astronomy, pulsars, and see hardware exhibits from America’s early space program.
“It all has character and charisma,” says Maddox about the InfoAge experience. “There is so much to see if you take the time to do it. It’s the best kept secret in New Jersey.”
In conjunction with the ISEC, InfoAge is running its “Space Week” camp from July 24 through 28 for kids ages 11-14. Camp hours run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, but interested participants will need to pre-register by contacting ISEC Director Lori Lauber at 732-322-4823. The InfoAge museums are open Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. For further information, see their website at Infoage.org.
