Springsteen archive to open near his New Jersey hometown

A Bruce Springsteen archive will open at Monmouth University in New Jersey, a short distance from the working-class town where the rock legend grew up.

The university near the Jersey Shore late Tuesday announced the creation of the archive, which will store written works, photographs and other artifacts for future research.

Called the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, the institute will preserve the legacy of the "Born in the USA" star and also advance study on earlier US music icons such as Frank Sinatra and Woody Guthrie, the university said.

The university is some 15 miles (25 kilometers) from Springsteen's hometown of Freehold, which inspired his classic song "Born to Run," and even closer to Asbury Park, the oceanfront city where he launched his music career.

Monmouth University's president Paul Brown said in a statement that the archive's location "brilliantly captures the essence of Springsteen's music" and noted that the university already had a significant music program, which includes an affiliation with the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.

The archive will be a more formal expansion to the Bruce Springsteen Special Collection, which opened at the university in 2011 to store early newspaper and magazine clippings about The Boss.

Springsteen, 67, has increasingly focused on his legacy. Last year he released a well-received autobiography, also entitled "Born to Run," in which he related his humble upbringing and rise to fame and also revealed his struggles with depression.

Bob Dylan, one of Springsteen's greatest influences, last year reached an agreement for his own archive to be set up at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, which already has a center dedicated to native son Guthrie.