CAMP BOARDWALK: Atlantic City During WWII

Exhibit at the Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton University


Curated by Dr. Patricia Chappine, in collaboration with the Atlantic City Free Public Library, Millville Army Air Field Museum, Sara & Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center, Atlantic County Historical Society, and the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey. 

Logo for the Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton University

The Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton

2200 Fairmount Ave, Atlantic City, NJ 08401
ww.artsgarageac.com
Phone: (609) 626-3805

    Convention Hall

    ca. 1920–1945,

    Built between 1926 and 1929, the Convention Hall was hailed as “the Largest convention hall and theatre in the world.”

    When the Army’s Basic Training Center No. 7 took over Atlantic City, the grand Convention Hall became its headquarters and the largest Army Air Force training center in the country.

    The main hall was used for mass exercises and physical training, where up to 4,000 men could perform calisthenics together.

    Click photographs to view the gallery:

    Postcard drawing of aerial view of the Convention Hall and beach circa 1930-1945
    Postcard drawing of aerial view of the Convention Hall, boardwalk, and beach circa 1930-1945
    Postcard drawing of the interior of the Convention Hall and theatre circa 1930-1945
    Photograph of Convention Hall during WWII with military inside auditorium

    Postcard images from the Boston Public Library, WWII image [1944] from Atlantic City Free Public Library.

    Today,

    The Boardwalk Hall was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1987, and in 2018, it was renamed the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in honor of the former mayor and state senator.

    Exterior photograph of Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall auditorium
    Interior photograph of Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall auditorium

    Images from the www.accenter.com and www.boardwalkhall.com.