The World Trade Center seen beyond the Brooklyn Bridge Across the East River
In remembrance of September 11, 2001, a photo of the World Trade Center one year after it opened. April, 1974.
The following 9/11 resources have been carefully selected by the George W. Bush Library:
The National September 11th Memorial Museum
September 11, 2001, Documentary Project
Source: research.archives.gov
Post 9/11 World Series In 2001, the World Series included the New York Yankees in a duel with the Arizona Diamondbacks. President George W. Bush was asked to throw out the first pitch in Game 3 of the Series, the first game of that championship to be held in New York, played on October 30. At the George W. Bush Library, we have the ball that the President threw, the jacket that he wore, and even the pitching rubber that he stood on at the mound. The jacket was a gift from New York City Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, and President Bush wore it onto the field in honor of the many men and women who had died trying to save others on 9/11. Read more
“I was truly touched by how the dirt and marks on the bullhorn resembled the tears that I and so many shed during those days.”
This post is part of a series on September 11. The George W. Bush Library holds many documents related to the events of September 11. In this series, our staff share some of their memories of the day and their thoughts on the records that are part of their holdings.
I remember September 11th and the horror watching all the desperate families trying in vain to find their loved ones throughout that day and the ensuing days. I cried almost non-stop every time I watched the television.
When President Bush visited Ground Zero, I remember feeling inspired and thinking that he said exactly what the nation needed to hear. I remember being comforted by his words and proud that he was the President. When I finally saw the bullhorn, I remembered that day and the speech he made. I was truly touched by how the dirt and marks on the bullhorn resembled the tears that I and so many shed during those days.
It is such a simple piece, and though it is quiet now—the batteries removed for preservation purposes—it still speaks volumes about the tragedy of that day and the strength of American resiliency.
Dr. Jennifer Schulle is the registrar at the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
The George W. Bush Presidential Library will be located in Dallas, TX, on the campus of Southern Methodist University. The permanent facility is expected to open in Spring 2013. George W. Bush Presidential Records are not yet available to the public under the requirements of the Presidential Records Act. The records will become available toFreedom of Information Act requests on January 20, 2014. The images contained in this series were previously released.
“The first time I saw it, I felt a physical jolt.”
This post is part of a series on September 11. The George W. Bush Library holds many documents related to the events of September 11. In this series, our staff share some of their memories of the day and their thoughts on the records that are part of their holdings.
I started the morning of September 11, 2001, as a senior at Texas A&M University shuffling around my apartment in College Station getting ready for my first class. By the end of the day and for the rest of the day and all that week I was glued to the television.
Some of that week is a blur now. What I remember most about that time was the emotion. There was fear and anger, but mostly I remember the sadness and then the hope. Everyone was grieving, but we were grieving as a community, not as individuals.
I graduated a year later with a degree in history and went on to become a museum professional. Now, ten years after that awful day, I am a museum technician at the George W. Bush Presidential Library. We have tens of thousands of artifacts in our collection, including many items related to 9/11.
One of our most recognizable artifacts is the bullhorn President Bush used to speak to the rescue workers when he visited Ground Zero on September 14.
I work with artifacts for a living. I believe in the power of an object to tell a story and evoke emotion in the viewer, but I was taken aback at the power of this ordinary, dirt streaked megaphone. The first time I saw it, I felt a physical jolt. I teared up and felt emotion welling in my chest. In an instant I was taken back to that day, week, month, and year.
I remembered the fear of the attack and the uncertainty of more to come. I remembered the sadness at the loss of so much human life, but mostly I remembered the unity we shared for a brief time. Working with historical artifacts like the bullhorn reminds me that when we need to, we can come together as one united nation.
I am proud to be a custodian of objects made sacred in our country’s collective memory. As a National Archives staff member, I look forward to sharing their power and presence with the people who visit the future Bush Presidential Library.
Christina Rodriguez is a museum technician at the George W. Bush Presidential Library. She has also worked in the museum and audiovisual archives of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library.
“Wake up. Two planes have hit.”
This is part of a series on September 11 in which our staff share some of their memories of the day and their thoughts on the records that are part of their holdings.
I woke up to my dad’s voice on the phone. “Wake up, planes have hit the World Trade Center.” In my groggy state I asked if it was foggy like the time the airplane crashed into the Empire State Building.
“No, Amy. Wake up. Two planes have hit. It’s terrorists.”
Everything was wrong. Nothing made sense. The whole world was upside down.
Like so many people, I reached out to my family and friends to make sure they were ok, to ask questions that no one had the answers to, and to just be close to people I loved as our country went through this surreal hell. I called my dad a lot and went over to my parents’ house after work every day for the first couple of weeks.
I was with my parents the night of September 14, watching the reports of the president’s trip to Ground Zero. When President Bush picked up that bullhorn and spoke to the rescue workers and the entire nation, I turned to my dad and expressed how proud I was. And my dad, ever the man to just say it like it is, simply replied, “You’re telling me.”
I still have a hard time keeping it together when I see footage of September 11, when I read letters from schoolchildren who sent their handmade flags to the White House to bolster the president’s spirits, or when I work with the personal 9/11 artifacts in the collection of the Bush 43 Library.
The only one that doesn’t choke me up is the bullhorn that President Bush used that day to comfort the workers at Ground Zero. Working with the bullhorn brings me back to that day when I knew with certainty that our country had suffered but would not be defeated and how the deafening response to his words exemplified the American spirit.
Working with the bullhorn also reminds me of my dad, who died in 2007. He didn’t live to see me become curator of the George W. Bush Presidential Library. I would have shown him the bullhorn and told him how unbelievable it is to work with the extraordinary documents and objects in our collection, and how grateful I am my career path has led me here.
And he would have said, “You’re telling me.”
Amy Polley is curator of the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
The George W. Bush Presidential Library will be located in Dallas, TX, on the campus of Southern Methodist University. The permanent facility is expected to open in Spring 2013. George W. Bush Presidential Records are not yet available to the public under the requirements of the Presidential Records Act. The records will become available toFreedom of Information Act requests on January 20, 2014. The images contained in this series were previously released.
The bullhorn used by President George W. Bush to speak to rescue workers at Ground Zero on September 14, 2001.
President George W. Bush holds the badge of a police officer killed in the September attacks.
“It is the police shield of a man named George Howard, who died at the World Trade Center trying to save others. It was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud memorial to her son.”
-President George W. Bush in his address to Congress
Remembering 9/11: Working with materials related to September 11
Courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Library
“To me, George Howard’s Port Authority police badge #1012, with its bent metal and scarred plating, symbolizes the United States of America as a nation battered but not broken.”
This post is part of a series on September 11. The George W. Bush Library holds many documents related to the events of September 11. In this series, our staff share some of their memories of the day and their thoughts on the records that are part of their holdings.
Tuesday, September 11, 2001, dawned bright and beautiful in Vicksburg, Mississippi. I started the day with a visit to my friend Neil Brun’s coffee shop, across the street from the museum where I worked. Neil had a new big screen TV. When I walked into Neil’s place, the first tower was already burning. A moment later, the second plane hit. Next, the Pentagon was on fire.
I watched CNN until it was time to open the museum. I got updates throughout the day from people as they came into the museum; first about the towers collapsing, then about Shanksville. I do not remember any of the folks I met that day being scared or sad. I remember anger.
I remember being angry myself. I do not remember dwelling on what had happened as much as I wondered what was going to be done about it. I remember the expressions on the faces of the FDNY guys as they carried their gear toward the towers; but what I saw was indifference to fear.
On September 20, 2001, President Bush addressed a Joint Session of Congress. He talked about our grief turning to anger and anger to resolution; he said that justice would be done. He told the Taliban to hand over the terrorists or share their fate; and he told the world, “either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”
Toward the end of his speech, the president held up a battered silver badge and said, “I will carry this. It is the police shield of a man named George Howard who died at the World Trade Center trying to save others. It was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud memorial to her son. It is my reminder of lives that ended and a task that does not end.”
Today, 10 years later, I work as a National Archives museum technician at the George W. Bush Presidential Library, where I work with thousands of historically significant records, including 9/11 artifacts. The Ground Zero bullhorn is certainly special, but for me, the Howard badge is number one.
For me, George Howard’s Port Authority police badge #1012, with its bent metal and scarred plating, symbolizes the United States of America as a nation battered but not broken. It is a poignant physical reminder of the heroism and sacrifice of so many individual Americans on that September day and the days that followed.
Dan Richardson is a museum technician at the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
The George W. Bush Presidential Library will be located in Dallas, TX, on the campus of Southern Methodist University. The permanent facility is expected to open in Spring 2013. George W. Bush Presidential Records are not yet available to the public under the requirements of the Presidential Records Act. The records will become available toFreedom of Information Act requests on January 20, 2014. The images contained in this series were previously released.
On September 11, 2001, White House photographers began to document the events as they were experienced by President George W. Bush. Over the next 50 days and nearly 50,000 images later, White House photographers would capture the horror and heroism, the courage and compassion surrounding those attacks.
As we remember 9/11 ten years later, the George W. Bush Presidential Library has created a collection of White House photographs on Flickr. The permanent facility of the Library is not yet complete, but staff at the Library have shared their experiences in working with 9/11 materials from the holdings. Over the next few days we will continue to post their accounts.
