The Curator's Cabinet

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About the Curators Cabinet - The Museum is giving its members a peek into the collection of artifacts that have been donated to us over the years. Each month, Museum Curator Eileen McCormack will select one or more items of interest to be viewed on our website.

Collier's Magazine 1950

Pick of the Month

March is Women’s History Month and the Museum is honoring Oakhurst celebrity, Norma Eberhardt. She was a well-known and successful fashion model and Hollywood film actress. Photographs of her life and career are being showcased during this month.

International Famous Ageny Photos

Provenance

Photographs are housed in the Museum’s Norma Eberhardt Dauphin Collection which contains memorabilia, newspaper articles, photographs, and artifacts that belonged to Norma and have been donated by Norma, friends and relatives.

Match Magazine

Background Information

In 1975, President Jimmy Carter officially designated March as Women’s History Month. It was intended to be a time to honor women’s achievements, and to look at equality and opportunities for women. So it seems fitting to recognize one of our own during this special month. Norma Eberhardt Dauphin (1929-2011) was born in Oakhurst where she lived and attended school. She was just a teenager when she was “discovered” by a New York fashion photographer covering the Asbury Park Easter Parade who was drawn to her striking beauty and heterochromia—the rare condition of having one blue and one brown eye!. Norma became an international cover girl and a stage and screen actress. Two of her films are cult classics: Live Fast, Die Young, and Return of Dracula.

May 1955 Marriage to French Actor Claude Dauphin
at Oakhurst Methodist Church

Norma was one of the original members of the Township of Ocean Historical Museum and was influential in garnering local support for the newly founded institution. Her Dracula movie was shown during one Halloween season as a special Museum program. Norma married Claude Dauphin in Oakhurst. He was a French actor and former member of the French Resistance. Their wedding received considerable press coverage, and one of the photographs on display features Norma and her husband during their wedding at Oakhurst Methodist Church. The museum’s collection has the gown she wore for the ceremony.