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 Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) During the fall of 2001, I was a junior in college, participating in a foreign exchange program in Oxford, England. I and about seventy other American college students were busily studying and reading our course materials that sunny afternoon, oblivious to the tragedies happening in the States - until some noticed the TV broadcast in our Common Room. I was using the card catalog when I overhead a few girls worriedly saying that a plane had flown into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I wasn't concerned, and thought that a small plane had just accidentally crashed into the towers with little damage. I began to feel a bit more concerned as I headed to the Common Room to check it out, passing a few fellow students in tears. There were about thirty stunned and sobbing students sitting in the common lounge, staring at pictures of large planes crashing into the twin towers. I arrived just in time to see the last tower collapse amidst a cloud of smoke and fire - accompanied by shocked commentary in a British accent. It was immensely strange and surreal to experience that day in a foreign country, even one as friendly as the United Kingdom. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Some fellow American students witnessed the towers collapse in a mall, watching the news bulletin on TVs in an electronic store. A nearby British construction worker thought that the tragedy unfolding before his eyes was humorous, prompting an angered outburst from several of these students. In retrospect, this exchange was eerily foreboding, in that it was a small taste of the passionate, conflicting responses September 11 would evoke from Americans, Britons, and people around the world. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? 9-11 had both positive and negative effects on the States - initially, it brought all Americans together behind one cause (revenge, retribution, retaliation, or justifiable war - the choice of wording depends on one's political leanings). This country experienced a remarkable resurgence in patriotism and nationalism, noticeable even to those Americans overseas. Partisan activity all but ceased in an effort to locate the perpetrators of such a tragedy and to bring those people to justice. It was very refreshing to see the nation's leaders cooperate rather than continue their petty infighting. Such reactions also resulted in other, perhaps less desirable, outcomes in the Patriot Act and the martial bent of the current administration, among other things. Terrorism is certainly an evil and reprehensible activity, but I wonder about the methods currently utilized by the U.S. Should the United States be the sole policeman of the world, disregarding the rest of the nations? I think not. 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 lc_story177.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. 2003-12-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.80.244.89