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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. In San Francisco: I woke up to the sound of my phone, hearing the answering machine turn on. "Jeff, turn on your TV." (It was my stepfather, calling from Oklahoma.) "Someone's flown some planes into the World Trade Center Buildings in New York." I got up, picked up the portable phone and started dialing as I turned on the television. The picture appeared on the set just as my stepfather answered the phone, and I saw an image of the first tower with a large horizonal black gash about 2/3's the way up. "This is an act of war," I thought, long before the media said that phrase. We talked, and I turned the computer on to see the New York Times web site's coverage of this. A story was already on their site, with sketchy information -- honestly, that they were already putting the electronic copy up there was quite a task, in itself. By then, a friend had arrived at my place to do some work on my windows, and was watching the coverage in my living room. I heard him yelp, and then shout, "come in here, Jeff!" and went to see one of the towers collapse, leaving only 1 WTC. (I have the ability to pause/replay my TV feed, so we watched it a few times.) I went back to see the NY Times site, and after a few minutes, hit `reload' to see any further news they had. On one `reload', it stopped half-way through and returned an error. The second tower had fallen, and my IP link to the NY Times had been interrupted at that moment. And, through the miracles of modern technology, I was an involuntary eyewitness to a mass murder. I replayed it on my television a few times, cried a lot, and after Thursday, turned off the television news and haven't seen video footage of that day, since. I've seen a lot of "The Simpsons" reruns of late. It helps. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. In the face of the September 11 tragedy, I've had to ask what's worth spending my time on. I don't have an answer, but am going to start teaching Math to middle school students next week. The pay's awful, but it's one way I can help make life a little brighter for the next generation. They are the generation that will have to build a world out of what we're leaving for them. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? The way that the meanest, hardest, nastiest folks in this country - New Yorkers - behaved like mature, giving, terrific folks in the face of unspeakable horror. The way that a group of passengers on the last plane forced it down, ending their own lives, because they knew that the plane was to be used as a missile against their own country. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? I didn't, because I'd just moved and too much was in disarray. I will, however, fly one as appropriate. 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 nmah149.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. 2002-08-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.81.125.163