• A coalition of repositories throughout New York State is working to ensure that documentary evidence of the tragedy and its human, political, and economic impact is preserved for future generations.

• Individual organizations in New York State and the nation are collecting material relating to the tragedy.  These organizational documentation projects conform to each repository's established collecting policy.   For example, the Fire Museum of the City of New York is collecting material to document the memorials to lost firefighters that have been created in New York City and other communities.

• State agencies and local governments are working with the New York State Archives to preserve disaster-related records.

• Other organizations are creating educational Web sites documenting the tragedy.

If you are undertaking such a project, we will disseminate information about it.  Please contact:

New York State Archives
9D46 Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230
(518) 474-6926
dhs@mail.nysed.gov

Documentation Planning and Coordination

The World Trade Center Documentation Task Force is coordinating information and initiating collaborative efforts to document the many aspects of this tragedy including the role of:  State government, local government, organizations such as hospitals, schools, mental health organizations, religious groups, and others involved in this event and its aftermath.  At present, the following organizations are participating:  the New York State Archives, the National Archives-Northeast Region, the Archivists Roundtable of Metropolitan New York, Columbia University, New York University, the New-York Historical Society, the New York City Department of Records and Information Services, and the New York State Historical Records Advisory Board.

Documenting The Work Of State Agencies

• Governor George Pataki has instructed all state agencies involved in disaster recovery efforts to contact the New York State Archives to ensure that their records are assessed and scheduled appropriately.

Documenting The Work Of Local Governments

• The Association of Public Historians of New York State, which consists of county and municipal historians, is coordinating members' efforts to collect records documenting their communities' responses to the World Trade Center tragedy.

Institutional Documentation Projects

The following projects illuminate how repositories use existing collecting policies to guide their documentation efforts:

• The New-York Historical Society invites New Yorkers to share their reminiscences of the people and events of September 11, 2001.  Please send your stories, along with your name, phone number, and contact information, to wtcmemory@nyhistory.org
  
  
• The South Street Seaport Museum is documenting the maritime community in New York Harbor and its own local neighborhood. It has been reaching out aggressively to maritime companies, government agencies involved on the waterfront, non-governmental organizations, private and public vessel operators (tugs, ferries, pilot boats, cruise lines), and labor unions.  It is collecting oral histories, photographs, videos, and any appropriate artifacts that illuminate the maritime community's response to the crisis.
  
  
• The New York City Fire Museum is collecting digital and photographic images of and stories about the rescue effort and images of memorials that mourners in New York City and elsewhere created in honor of firefighters lost in the tragedy. 
  
  
• Citylore:  New York Center for Urban Folk Culture is photographing the spontaneous memorial shrines that have been created all over New York City.

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• The Internet Archive, in conjunction with Alexa Internet, the State University of New York, the Library of Congress, and the University of Washington, is spearheading the creation of a comprehensive online archives of Web sites and pages relating to the events of September 11.  Planners are currently using Web crawler software and user suggestions to identify and capture the content of relevant Web resources and hope to make captured pages accessible to users by the end of the year.  Users who want to recommend Web sites and pages for inclusion in the archives should e-mail URLs to: attackarchive@alexa.com
  
  
• The Foundation of the New York State Nurses Association's Bellevue Alumnae Center for Nursing History is launching a project to document the role registered nurses played in responding to the tragedy in the short and long term.  For more information, contact the Foundation's archivist, Molly Gossen, at agossen@foundationnysnurses.org
  
  
• The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art collecting lithographs, publishers' proofs, copies, and other prints of comic and cartoon art inspired by the events of September 11, 2001.  It is also collecting photographs and written accounts of the tragedy generated by published artists.  The Museum will keep the original donations and forward reproductions to the New York State Museum and the New York State Library.
  

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• The New York State Library's Manuscripts and Special Collections division is collecting written reminiscences and images of the tragedy.  The Library is chiefly interested in material created by residents of upstate New York, but will accept first-person accounts and images created by those living elsewhere.
  

• The Asian American Arts Alliance is surveying Asian American artists and arts organizations affected by the tragedy.
  
  
• The Asian American Arts Center is photographing spontaneous memorials to those lost in the tragedy.
  
  
• Hofstra University's Long Island Studies Institute is collecting a wide array of material documenting how Long Island residents, organizations, and businesses responded to the tragedy, including:  personal accounts, programs from memorial services, local press accounts, school documents created for students and parents, business records, and local government documents.  For more information, contact Geri Solomon at Geri.E.Solomon@Hofstra.edu or 516-463-6407.
  
• The Museum of the City of New York, in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution, is collecting first-person accounts, photographs, artwork, poems, and other material documenting how individuals have responded to the tragedy.  At present, only electronic submissions are being accepted; consult the Museum's web site for more information.  The Museum has also helped to create www.911history.net, a web site for archives, historical societies, museums, and other organizations interested in helping to document the tragedy.
  

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Web Sites Documenting The Tragedy

World Trade Center Attack:  The Official Documents

• From Columbia University Libraries.
• Selective guide to New York City, New York State, United States, and other government documents related to the World Trade Center tragedy.
• Links to most of the documents listed.

World Trade Center Online Memorial

• From the New York State Museum.
• Photographs of the World Trade Center complex, related material drawn from the Museum's "Skyscraper City" exhibit, and video documenting the construction of the complex.

Building the World Trade Center

• From the Museum of the City of New York.
• Online exhibit chronicling the development of New York City skyscrapers, the architectural trends influencing the design of the World Trade Center, and the construction of the World Trade Center complex.

Building Big-Wonders of the World Database:   World Trade Center

• From the Public Broadcasting Service.
• Brief overview of the World Trade Center's construction and the causes of the towers' collapse. 
• Part of Building Big, a PBS series and interactive Web site.
• Suitable for grades 5-8.  A teacher's manual is also available.

Missing

• From City Lore, Inc.
• Photographs of street memorials, posters of missing people, and emergency workers by City Lore photographer Martha Cooper

World Trade Center

• From GreatBuildings.com
• Detailed overview of the complex's structural components and facilities.
• Commentary from architect Minoru Yamasaki and others.
• Photographs, satellite images, maps, site plan drawings, and a free 3D electronic model of the complex.