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 Emails Description An account of the resource This collection contains emails which were sent or received on or around September 11, 2001. As of this writing individuals have submitted more than 1,500 correspondences. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. I live in Northern Alabama and this message was forwarded to me from a friend. This was written by a man in NYC regarding our police officers who had volunteered to assist in NYC: Dear Staff of Huntsville Times: >> >>I do a lot of writing for national publications, but I never thought I >>would write anything about the wonderful police of Madison, Alabama. This >>piece is yours to use if you like it. >> >>Steven M. Gorelick >>New York City >> >>The Cops from Madison, Alabama >>Steven M. Gorelick >>October 3, 2001 >>I wondered when I would finally feel the sadness. I wondered why other >>New Yorkers I passed in the streets of Manhattan looked so pained while I >>felt so numb. I really began to wonder if I was human.. I felt nothing at >>all. Nothing. >>It started several days after the sky fell on September 11th, when I >>looked out my living room window in Westfield, New Jersey and saw friends >>and family visiting the pregnant wife of a 31 year-old man who was >>missing in the rubble. I tried hard to cry, but -- as much I would like >>to say I felt courage and resolve -- what I really felt was an almost >>paralyzing fear brought on by the sheer audacity of the acts. >>At work in Manhattan, I found it even harder to feel pain and sadness: I >>work across from the Empire State Building, and that building s new >>status as New York City s tallest skyscraper gave all of us in the >>surrounding neighborhood a case of the jitters. It s hard to feel sad >>when you keep looking up at the sky waiting for something to come >>crashing down. >>Several days later my wife and I attended an interfaith service. I passed >>a sign with the names of a number of those from my hometown who had been >>lost. So many were parents of young children. I could feel a little lump >>forming in my throat. But I still could not cry. >>The pent-up emotions finally hit like a ton of bricks when I least >>expected it: I was out walking in front of the Empire State Building. I >>wanted to simply be in the presence of the New York City police officers >>now guarding that building. And as I got closer, I saw that the building >>s entrance was being protected by police officers from Madison, Alabama. >>And I lost it. I ran upstairs to my office and finally shed the tears >>eluded me for three weeks. >>You have to understand. Most New Yorkers are hopelessly provincial, still >>living with the illusion that they live at the center of the universe, as >>if this wonderful complex, diverse universe could even have a center! >>Some are even still fighting the civil war, with a view of the south that >>is as up to date as a Matthew Brady photograph. I know people who never >>even leave Manhattan, as if -- having found paradise -- they have no >>reason to go anywhere else. >>Yet there they were out in front of the Empire State Building, a group of >>wisecracking, cynical New Yorkers who had surrounded these officers and >>were looking at them with the reverence usually reserved for members of >>the clergy. And these big, strong, confident reassuring police officers >>from a place that no one had ever heard of were actually calming the >>nerves of people who had seen things that no one should see and felt >>things that no one should feel. >>I don t know where Madison Alabama is. I don t know how many people live >>there. I don t know what petty disputes are currently being fought out in >>its City Council, but I bet some group of citizens has been making a lot >>of noise lately about the lack of a stop light at some especially >>congested corner. I don t know if there is a peaceful river that runs >>through town or a lake where you can fish and swim. I don t know where in >>town you can taste the best barbecue and I certainly don t know a soul >>that lives there. >>But I do know that on a fine sunny day in my hometown, three weeks after >>it seemed like the world was collapsing around us, a bunch of courageous >>and compassionate cops from Madison Alabama were just what we needed at >>precisely the moment we needed it. >>To the good and decent people of Madison: Thanks you for your sending us >>your bravest and finest. Just the sight of their Madison shoulder patch >>and the decency and confidence they demonstrated gave me an incredible >>dose of hope that -- whatever comes along -- our almost instinctive >>compassion as a nation will overcome any adversary. >>And do me a favor: Promise that the someone from Madison -- wherever it >>is -- will get in touch with me the next time a river overflows (is there >>a river nearby?), the next time a fire leaves some people homeless, the >>next time -- God forbid -- that a place of such obvious kindness and >>decency has its reckoning with pain and loss. I d love to help. >>Steven Gorelick teaches sociology and media studies at the City >>University of New York. September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 10/09/01 September 11 Email: To The email addresses, and optionally names of the message's recipients September 11 Email: From The email address, and optionally the name of the author. September 11 Email: CC The email addresses of those who received the message addressed primarily to another. September 11 Email: Subject A brief summary of the topic of the message. The Police of Madison, AL 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 email279.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. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. unknown Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. yes Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-08-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.216.53.139