New Jersey's Monmouth University to host Bruce Springsteen archive

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A university in U.S. rock icon Bruce Springsteen's home state of New Jersey will be home to a collection of decades' worth of works and memorabilia from his Grammy Award-winning career, a school spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Monmouth University will establish the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at its campus in the borough of West Long Branch, just miles from Asbury Park where he forged his career. The archive will include all of the "Born to Run" singer's recorded works as well as posters, photos, articles and other artifacts. The center "will preserve and promote the legacy of Bruce Springsteen and his role in American music," the university said in a statement. It will also highlight the work of other American musicians, including Woody Guthrie, Frank Sinatra and Robert Johnson. It will include a collection housed at Monmouth University since 2011, and will continue to accept works and memorabilia from Springsteen, fans and other donors, school spokeswoman Tara Peters said. The archives will be available for viewing by the public by appointment only at Monmouth, which is one of nine university affiliates of the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, Peters said. Springsteen, 67, who rose from playing in the gritty clubs of the Jersey Shore to international superstardom, has long maintained a home in, and close ties to, the Garden State roots. When the New Jersey coastline was battered by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Springsteen, along with fellow New Jersey native Jon Bon Jovi, headlined a concert to benefit victims of the storm. Springsteen is also an outspoken supporter of Democratic politics, campaigning for President Barack Obama ahead of the 2012 U.S. presidential election and backing Democrat Hillary Clinton in November's election. (Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Scott Malone and Alan Crosby)