Documenting the World Trade Center Spontaneous Memorials

By Lenora A. Gidlund, Deputy Director, Municipal Archives for the City of New York

Leonora A. Gidlund, Deputy Director of Municipal Archives for the City of New York, gave a presentation, during the Local Government Records Roundtable meeting in Birmingham, on the department’s efforts to document and preserve the spontaneous memorials that arose following the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center.

Leonora recapped her presentation as follows:

"Throughout New York City on and soon after the September 11, 2001 disaster, New Yorkers created temporary memorials, small and large, to express their varied emotions, concerns, and sympathy. These spontaneous memorials appeared on public and private land: parks, firehouses, streets, sidewalks, schools, religious institutions, hospitals and medical centers, libraries, and stores. Although the majority of memorials were temporary, some continue to exist and materials are added daily.

While ephemeral in nature, these shrines have become significant historically because they document the outpouring of human emotion and response to the attacks. The above photo illustrates the variety of materials placed in Union Square Park soon after the WTC Attack. The site, located at 14th Street and Broadway, is under the jurisdiction of the NYC Department of Parks.

Two weeks after the attack, Parks personnel removed the materials and placed them in storage. The Municipal Archives received the items six months later. We continue to sort and catalog them. The Municipal Archives also received materials from a large memorial wall (260 feet long, 9 feet high) created by the victims’ families from September - December 2001. On September 11, 2002, we visited Ground Zero at 7:00 PM to gather the flowers and other items placed by the victims’ families during the day; we also photographed the small memorials left at the site.

The Municipal Archives, city, state and federal government agencies, museums, historical societies and private citizens, have photographed or videotaped the various memorials, and/or removed a representative sample of items. It is hoped that this method of documentation and preservation of the memorials will be available for all those interested in historical research."