Current Press Release

TOMS RIVER – The Toms River Branch of the Ocean County Library will host “The Doughboy Monuments of New Jersey” by Erik Burro throughout April in the McConnell Gallery.

Erik Burro is a history advocate who has photographed nearly 300 memorials to World War I in New Jersey, most created within a decade after the Great War. A color photo of the most recent WWI monument in the state, “Protectors of Freedom” by Brian Hanlon, will be featured in the black and white photo exhibit with several other monuments in Ocean County.

Burro’s WWI research has included the role of New Jersey pilots from the Princeton University Aeronautics School, the part played by military chaplains on the Western Front, insights into the role of animals during the war, and the lifesaving contributions made by civilian American volunteers serving throughout Europe.

The Ocean County Historical Society will host a conference of New Jersey historical societies at the Toms River Branch on Apr. 6. Burro’s photographic exhibit is a compliment to programs that will be featuring Ocean County’s highlights of its own WWI commemoration.

The branch is located at 101 Washington Street.

“The Doughboy Monuments of New Jersey” is free and open to the public. For more information, call the branch at 732-349-6200, ext. 5100, or visit theoceancountylibrary.org/events.

03-27-2019-wwi.pdf