Have you ever heard the term crowdsourcing?
Broadly speaking, crowdsourcing is the practice of turning to the public for information, ideas, expertise, or contributions. While the term itself is relatively new, the concept has been part of museum work for a very long time.
Museums, archives, and other cultural institutions use crowdsourcing in all sorts of ways. We might ask the public to help identify people in historic photographs, share memories of important events, transcribe handwritten documents, or contribute objects and stories that help us better understand the past. Some of the most fascinating pieces of our collective past are tucked away in people’s attics, closets, basements, and scrapbooks. And sometimes, the people who lived through historic events have stories to tell that simply can’t be found anywhere else in the historical record.
Here at the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, we’re especially fortunate to have an extraordinarily knowledgeable and passionate community of fans who have spent decades collecting, documenting, and preserving pieces of music history. Their generosity, expertise, and memories have helped shape our collections and exhibitions in countless ways.
Which brings me to an email we received a few months back.
The writer explained that she had attended a New Year’s Eve concert at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, on December 31, 1977. Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes were performing that evening, but the audience was treated to a special surprise when Bruce Springsteen and members of the E Street Band joined the festivities.
At some point during the evening, Bruce took off his shirt and tossed it into the crowd.
And our correspondent, Diane Simko, caught it.
Even more remarkably, she kept it for nearly half a century.
Fast-forward to 2026, when the Center partnered with the Passaic County Arts Center in Hawthorne to present an exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of Born to Run. Among the artifacts on display was that very shirt, generously loaned by the woman who had caught it all those years earlier.
Read a bit more about the Capitol Theatre, and the Hawthorne exhibit, here.
I had the pleasure of meeting Diane at the exhibition opening, and we talked about the possibility of eventually bringing the shirt into our permanent collection: and sure enough, Diane followed through! After some careful coordination by our archivist, Graciela, the shirt arrived at the Center this month and is now a part of our permanent collection.
We recently asked Diane to share a bit about her memories of this special piece of music history.
Take us back to New Year’s Eve 1977. How did you end up at the Southside Johnny show at the Capitol Theatre? Were you already a big Springsteen fan?
In the mid to late 70s Southside Johnny always played at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ on New Year’s Eve and I used to go every year. I was already a big Bruce fan after seeing him for the first time at that very same venue on October 18, 1974, so it was a huge treat when he showed up that night and casually walked out on stage unannounced.
What do you remember about Bruce and the E Street Band showing up? Was it a complete surprise? What was the atmosphere like in the theatre?
No one at the concert that night expected Bruce to be there so when he walked out on stage unannounced it took a little while for the crowd to even realize he was there. After he was noticed everyone got really excited especially after he stepped out front and sang lead on a few songs. Of course we had no idea what would happen later that night. After the Southside Johnny concert ended and we celebrated at midnight a lot of people were leaving. I had a little advantage because my brother worked security for the concerts and at some point towards the end of the show he had come over and told us not to leave after Johnny left the stage. We ended up moving down closer to the stage after the people left that were sitting there, that’s how I ended down in front by the stage. Within a few minutes the entire E Street Band started to filter out to the stage, much like they still do today. Bruce came out and said it was too early to go home and he felt like playing. This was not long after the time of the lawsuit when he was locked out of the studio. The band seemed eager to play. We were treated to a 45 minute set by the entire E Street Band!
Tell me about the moment Bruce threw his shirt into the audience! Where were you standing or sitting? Did you actually catch it, or was there a scramble for it? Did you immediately realize what you had?
At the end of the night the last song was the Gary U.S. Bonds cover of “Quarter to Three.” Soaked in sweat at the end of the song, as Bruce danced off stage, he took off his shirt and swung it around over his head and let it go. It flew into the audience heading straight to where I was standing. I reached up and grabbed it along with the person next to me. There was a scramble for it, that’s how the side of it got torn. I ended up winning the struggle but had to shove the shirt up under my shirt because people were still grabbing for it from every direction, but I was the one who walked out with it after the show.
What happened to the shirt after that night? Did you wear it? Wash it? Put it away for safekeeping? How have you stored it for nearly 50 years?
This year will be 49 years since that night. I kept the shirt. Even though my husband (may he RIP) always wanted me to “get rid of it,” it remained folded in the bottom of my dresser drawer. Because of the perspiration I did wash it once when I first brought it home.
Did you ever tell Bruce’s story to friends or family? Was the shirt something you regularly showed people, or was it a largely private keepsake?
I never told anyone I had the shirt. Of course the people who were with me that night knew about it but over the years I don’t think some of them even remembered I still had it. I never talked about it or showed it to anyone until one day in July of 2014 I was doom scrolling on Facebook and someone in one of the Bruce Facebook groups I belong to happened to post all these photos from that New Year’s Eve show! There was my shirt! I finally had proof that it was Bruce’s shirt! Before that, without the proof, I didn’t think anyone would believe it was his. When my kids were all young I started taking them to Bruce shows and they all ended up being big Bruce fans, so now that I had proof that the shirt belonged to Bruce I decided to tell them about it. My youngest daughter was so excited she put it on, the only one in the 49 years I had it to ever wear it. Since then all three of them have always asked me what I was going to do with it and told me I would have to put it in my will to stipulate which one of them would get it after I’m gone.
What prompted you to loan it to the Born to Run at 50 exhibition? What was it like seeing something you’d held on to for so long displayed in a museum?
After showing it to the kids and telling them the story of how I got it, it went back into the drawer where it stayed for another nearly 12 years. One day, scrolling Facebook again, I happened to see a post from The Passaic County Arts Center located in Hawthorne, NJ. They were putting together an exhibit for the 50th year anniversary of the release of the Born to Run album. The article stated that they were looking for artifacts, and since the Capitol Theatre was located in Passaic County they specifically wanted items relating to memories from the Theatre, and they specifically mentioned the December 31, 1977, New Year’s Eve show. I talked about it with my kids and my sister (who was with me that night), and decided that if the Arts Center was interested, it might be time to take it out of the bottom dresser drawer. I sent them an email with a picture of the shirt and short story on how I got it and was wondering if they would be interested in it if I loaned it to the exhibit. The response was immediate, they said they would love to have it, and it ended up being the featured artifact of the exhibit.
Why have you decided that now is the right time to donate it to the Center? What does it mean to you to know that future generations of Springsteen fans might have the opportunity to see it?
On opening night of the Passaic County Arts Center exhibit they had a reception for all the people who loaned them items, I attended with my sister.
That is where I met Melissa Kozlowski from the Bruce Springsteen Center and I asked her if the shirt would be something they would be interested in. To my surprise she said, “definitely yes.” Again I talked to my family and decided that if the Center was interested it was time. After I got it back from loan to the Passaic County exhibit I contacted Melissa and told her I decided to donate it to the Center. I am still amazed that anyone would be interested, but I know now that the shirt is where it belongs with all the other Bruce artifacts. I am humbled to know that after all these years the shirt and my story will reach many more fans and maybe even one day, Bruce himself! I have always wondered: if he ever got to hear my story would he remember the shirt and that New Year’s Eve night? There is a YouTube video of the entire New Year’s Eve show, if you look for it you can see what an incredible night that was and Bruce wearing the shirt. I am looking forward to when it goes on exhibit and hope everyone will enjoy it!
Diane and her family say goodbye to the shirt at the Center.
Melissa Kozlowski
Director of Curatorial Affairs
Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music
Monmouth University
November 10, 2026
