Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: [This is a slightly edited version of a journal entry I wrote in the early evening of September 11.] My plan for today was to walk to the Rayburn House Office Building for a haircut, then take Metro to George Washington University, where I would scan some of my 35mm slides of Washington and print them out as color overhead transparencies for use in class. After that, I would stay in the GW Library & finish up my lecture for tomorrow. My first hint that something was up was the sight of police vehicles & camera crews blocking off East Capitol Street at 2d. Filming a shot for "The West Wing" perhaps? I detoured down to Independence. More police. A motorcade? At 1st and Independence, they weren't even letting pedestrians pass. After a few minutes, it became clear that something bad had happened--maybe a bomb threat--and that I wasn't going to get my haircut or my Metro ride. I headed home, planning to fetch my bicycle and ride it to GW. On returning home, I turned on the TV, in hopes of finding out something about Metro. Only then did I see footage of a burning Pentagon. It took me a very long time to figure out what was going on--ABC News preferred to interview eyewitnesses and talking heads, rather than recapping the who, what, where, and when, that three hijacked airplanes had crashed into great buildings. And even as I started to piece together the story, I remained in denial. OK, so a plane flew _toward_ the Pentagon, but surely that burning building on TV isn't the Pentagon itself. That footage labeled "New York," with smoke rising from Lower Manhattan, that's stock footage from 1993, right? No, it's live. But when they say the Twin Towers collapsed, they mean just the top stories, yes? No. I sat on the couch and watched the television, and after dozens of viewings of the Trade Center's being hit by the 2d airplane and then collapsing--shot from many angles, each astounding--could I believe what I was seeing. Even now, I can't imagine riding the train into New York without seeing those towers. Or that the nice young woman from the Defense Department whom I met at the party three weeks ago might now be dead. There was actually very little for me to do today. Both the Library of Congress & GW's library were closed, separating me from my lecture preparation. There were a flurry of calls to and from family and friends. R [my wife] called at 12:30. She had been at a firm retreat in Westchester, and I knew she wasn't due into New York City until the afternoon, so I had little fear that she was in danger. But it was good of her to check in. (I missed the call, but got the voice mail.) Steve sent e-mail from Minnesota, asking if we were OK. So did my cousin Joanna, writing from Hungary. Eventually, I settled down and did a little bit of work, plus some laundry. Miss Kitty had a fine day, curling up on my lap as I watched TV. I don't know what happens next. Tomorrow I face my students--my first overhead will be a picture of the White House, gutted after being set aflame by the British in 1814. I wonder about the future of Washington & New York. Will NYC have the sense _not_ to rebuild the World Trade Center, generally disparaged by planners as too much of a single use? Will National Airport ever reopen, or will it be closed so that all of Washington can be turned into a no-fly zone? And how can I ever again put Rebecca on an airplane? Before I knew what was happening, I thougth a bike ride to GW might actually be quite nice. After all, the weather today was perfect. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story55.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-02-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 141.156.150.98 Annotation Annotations to this item. Rebuilding Students/Teachers Telephones and Cell Phones Television Coverage DC:2 Sep 11- Sep 21, 2001