“Project Paperclips Brings German Scientists to NJ,” by Fred Carl

Location – Ocean County Historical Society, 26 Hadley Avenue, Toms River, NJ

Sunday, April 16^th, 2023, at 2:00 PM, “Project Paperclips Brings German Scientists to NJ,” by Fred Carl

In the fall of 1944, the United States and its allies launched a secret mission code-named

Operation Paperclip. The aim was to find and preserve German weapons, including biological

and chemical agents, but American scientific intelligence officers quickly realized the weapons

themselves were not enough. They decided the United States needed to bring German scientists

themselves to the U.S. Thus began a mission to recruit top German doctors, physicists and

chemists — including the famous Wernher von Braun, who went on to design the

rockets that took man to the moon. See more at: https://www.npr.org/2014/02/15/275877755/the-

secret-operation-to-bring-Nazi-scientists-to-America. Few know that some of these scientific

personnel made their way right here to NJ. Join us as Fred Carl tells the tale.

Fred Carl received his B.S. in Science Education and his M.S. in Computer Science from

Monmouth University. He also has Teaching Certificates in Comprehensive Science and

Computer Science. Carl began the effort to save Camp Evans in Wall Township by transforming

it into a Science Education Center in March of 1993 when its closing under the U.S. Army’s

1993 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) was announced. Reaching out to organizations

with technology education and historic preservation programs, he built a consortium dedicated to

preserving Camp Evans as a Science Center. In 1998 the group incorporated as a not-for-profit

named the Information Age Learning Center. Fred then nominated and successfully defended an

application to create a 37-acre Camp Evans Historic District and have it added the National

Register of Historic Places. Once on the Register, a complex application to the Historic Surplus

Property Program was prepared. One approved by the National Park Service it paved the way for

the transfer of the historic district to Wall Township for the preservation of the site and the

creation of the Info Age Science History Center. Under his leadership Info Age, with the support

of Wall Township and Monmouth County, Info Age has replaced roofs, installed heating and air

conditioning to many of the buildings. In 2012, the site was declared a National Historic

Landmark.

To register for this free program, send your name, zip code, email address, and the date of the program, (April 16, 2023) to oceancountyhistory.zoom@gmail.com