Press

(ALBANY, NY) – On September 11, six years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the New York State Museum will debut an online version of its World Trade Center exhibition and also display new objects representing the nation’s emotional response to the tragic events of that historic day.

The World Trade Center: Rescue, Recovery Response exhibition, which opened at the Museum a year after the September 2001 attacks, chronicles the history of the World Trade Center (WTC), the attacks, rescue efforts, recovery operation and the public response that followed.

In honor of the sixth anniversary of 9-11, the Museum has installed new objects from its WTC collection in the Response section of the Museum’s WTC gallery. These include panels that served as the backdrop for a production of “War At Home” a play about the World Trade Center and September 11 performed by 27 Hudson Falls High School students. The production raised $1,500, which the students presented last February to the Tribute WTC Visitor Center, a project of the September 11th Families’ Association.
There also is a battle dress uniform and boots donated to the Museum by Specialist Jeffrey Bly of Watervliet, who was deployed to Ground Zero with Company B, 1st Battalion, 101st Cavalry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division, based in Troy. The New York National Guard unit provided security at the perimeter surrounding Ground Zero and assistance to displaced civilians.
On a wall near the entrance of the gallery visitors will find a large thank you sign, which was used at the corner of Christopher Street and West Streets in Greenwich Village -- a site dubbed “Point Thank You.” On this small traffic island, individuals would hold signs to thank recovery workers who traveled this route on the way to Ground Zero. 

Also on display are a message panel, prepared by residents of Cleveland, Ohio to express their support for the recovery effort, and a quilt completed for the fifth anniversary of September 11 and dedicated to EMS workers by members of the 9-11 Memorial Quilt Organization of Dixon, Illinois. There also is a flag recovered from the WTC site by the New York State Police, and another flag, embellished with photographs by a Chicago artist to convey her feelings about the events of September 11.

The Museum’s new online WTC exhibition can be found at http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/wtc. beginning September 11th. It will allow visitors access to the same objects, images and videos found in the WTC exhibition gallery, as well as interactives and podcasts of oral histories created exclusively for the web. Panoramic images will provide a 360 degree view of the galleries.

The exhibition includes facts and figures about the World Trade Center, a construction video and information on the 1993 WTC attack. Also featured are photographs of objects from the World Trade Center, which include crushed computer fragments, keys, elevator door signs, security and visitor badges and a souvenir sold at one of the building’s gift shops.

Visitors to the Rescue section of the online exhibition will be able to pan across a timeline to trace the first 24 hours of September 11, 2001. They also will have access to full-screen views of the objects rescued, including the heavily damaged Engine 6 pumper, and recovered New York Police and Fire Department objects. There also will be links to web pages providing more information and photographs on the Engine 6 company and the firefighters who responded and perished on 9-11. The site will include a video of firefighter Billy Green. He recounts his experience that day as the only one of the six Engine 6 firefighters who entered the North Tower and survived the collapse.

The Recovery section documents the work that took place at Staten Island’s Fresh Kills facility, whose Dutch-derived name means “freshwater stream.” Truckloads of steel and solid material from Ground Zero began to arrive there by 2 a.m. on September 12. New York Police Department and FBI Evidence Response Teams arrived soon after to sort through the materials searching for human remains, personal effects and evidence from the terrorists.

The site provides a panoramic view of Fresh Kills, images of the sorting process and objects associated with the recovery effort, including signs from the site and clothing worn by those who worked there. 

In the Response section, images of the front pages of the nation’s leading newspapers tell the story of the country’s initial reaction to the events of 9-11. A link to a photo of a fence at Liberty Plaza, in the Museum’s WTC collection, allows web visitors to pan across the image to see the variety of spontaneous memorials that arose in the weeks following September 11. There also are images of other memorials, as well as photographs, of St. Paul’s Chapel and Nino’s Restaurant where weary Ground Zero rescue workers found refuge.

Podcasts of four oral histories will be available online. Through the “voices” link visitors will hear from the widow of a Port Authority officer and office workers who fled from the towers’ upper floors. Lee Ielpi, a retired firefighter, will recount how he initially rushed to Ground Zero to search for his son, also a firefighter, but later became much more involved in the recovery effort. 
As time goes on, the online exhibition also will allow visitors increasing access to the Museum’s WTC collection not currently on display. Through funding from a $128,683 Save America’s Treasures Grant, the Museum has hired additional staff to catalog and organize this vast collection. 

The New York State Museum is a cultural program of the New York State Education Department. The State Museum is located on Madison Avenue in Albany. It is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission is free. Further information can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website.
# # #