‘Never forget’: examining changes in materiality and preservation practices at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, New York

Abstract

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum commemorates specific traumatic moments in history—the February 26, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York and the catastrophic attacks of September 11, 2001. The recovered realia, exhibiting damage from the attacks, consists of many objects never intended to be preserved. Now 20 years later, the plastics, newspapers and corroded metals which served as placeholders connecting us with both the past and the innocent lives lost are beginning to age. In addition, the people who care for these artefacts may no longer have personal associations with the trauma; that is, the lived experience of the events which motivated the original caretakers. This paper discusses the current research conducted by museum staff related to how the conservation community navigates our own experiences, memories and evolving biases in interpreting trauma collections and how a human-centred approach of involving family members and survivors defines conservation priorities for objects meant to stay frozen in time.

Résumé

« ‘Ne jamais oublier’: examen des changements dans la matérialité et les pratiques de préservation au National September 11 Memorial & Museum de New York »

Les Mémorial et Musée nationaux du 11 septembre commémorent des événements traumatisants particuliers dans l'histoire—l'attentat à la bombe du 26 février 1993 contre le World Trade Center à New York et les attentats désastreux du 11 septembre 2001. Les realia récupérés, montrant les dommages causés par les attentats, se composent de nombreux objets n'ayant jamais eu vocation à être conservés. Aujourd'hui, 20 ans plus tard, les plastiques, les journaux et les métaux corrodés qui ont servi de balises pour nous relier à la fois au passé et aux vies innocentes perdues commencent à vieillir. De plus, les personnes qui s'occupent de ces artefacts peuvent ne plus avoir de liens personnels avec le traumatisme; c'est-à-dire l'expérience vécue des événements qui ont motivé les premiers gardiens. Cet article fait état de la recherche actuelle menée par le personnel du Musée sur la manière dont la communauté de la conservation dirige nos propres expériences, souvenirs et biais évolutifs dans l'interprétation des collections liées à des traumatismes et comment une approche centrée sur l'être humain impliquant les membres de la famille et les survivants définit les priorités de conservation pour les objets destinés à rester figés dans le temps.

Zusammenfassung

„‘Niemals vergessen’: Untersuchung der Veränderungen in der Materialität und der Restaurierungspraktiken im National September 11 Memorial & Museum, New York“

Das National September 11 Memorial & Museum erinnert an besondere traumatische Momente der Geschichte—den Bombenanschlag auf das World Trade Center in New York am 26. Februar 1993 und die katastrophalen Anschläge vom 11. September 2001. Die geborgenen Realien, die durch die Anschläge beschädigt wurden, bestehen aus vielen Objekten, die nie für eine langzeitliche Aufbewahrung vorgesehen waren. Jetzt, 20 Jahre später, beginnen die Kunststoffe, Zeitungen und korrodierten Metalle, die als Platzhalter dienen und uns sowohl mit der Vergangenheit als auch mit den unschuldig verlorenen Menschenleben verbinden, zu altern. Hinzu kommt, dass die Menschen, die sich um diese Artefakte kümmern, möglicherweise keine persönlichen Assoziationen mehr mit dem Trauma haben, d. h. mit den Ereignissen, die die ursprünglichen Betreuer motiviert haben. In diesem Beitrag werden die aktuellen Forschungsarbeiten von Museumsmitarbeitenden erörtert, die sich mit der Frage befassen, wie wir als Bewahrende/Restaurator*innen mit unseren eigenen Erfahrungen, Erinnerungen und sich entwickelnden Vorurteilen bei der Interpretation von Traumasammlungen umgehen und wie ein humanzentrierter Ansatz, der Familienmitglieder und Überlebende einbezieht, die Prioritäten für die Bewahrung von Objekten definiert, die in der Zeit eingefroren bleiben sollen.

Resumen

“‘Que nunca se olvide’: análisis de los cambios en la materialidad y las prácticas de preservación en el Museo y Monumento Nacional del 11 de Septiembre de Nueva York”

Museo y Monumento Nacional del 11 de septiembre conmemora momentos traumáticos concretos de la historia: el atentado del 26 de febrero de 1993 contra el World Trade Center de Nueva York y los catastróficos atentados del 11 de septiembre de 2001. Son muchos los objetos recuperados dañados por los atentados, y nunca se pensó en conservarlos. Ahora, 20 años después, los plásticos, periódicos y metales corroídos que sirvieron de marcadores de posición conectándonos tanto con el pasado como con las vidas inocentes perdidas están empezando a envejecer. Además, es posible que las personas que ahora se encargan de cuidar de estos artefactos ya no tengan asociaciones personales con el trauma; es decir, la experiencia de estos sucesos que motivaron a sus primeros cuidadores. En este artículo se analiza la investigación que está llevando a cabo el personal del Museo en relación con el modo en que los profesionales de la conservación navegamos por nuestras propias experiencias, recuerdos y prejuicios cambiantes a la hora de interpretar colecciones traumáticas, y cómo un enfoque centrado en el ser humano que implique a familiares y supervivientes define las prioridades de conservación de objetos que están destinados a permanecer congelados en el tiempo.

摘要

“‘永不遗忘‘：考察纽约 9ž11 国家纪念博物馆的物质性变化和保护实践”

美国 9ž11 国家纪念博物馆纪念了历史上特定的创伤时刻——1993 年 2 月 26 日纽约世贸中心爆炸案和 2001 年 9 月 11 日的灾难性袭击。复原的文物展示出袭击造成的破坏，其中包括许多从未打算保存的物品。 20 年后的今天，这些曾作为纽带连接我们与过去和无辜丧生者的塑料、报纸和被腐蚀的金属已经开始老化。另外，保护这些文物的人可能与此创伤再无个人联系，即不再有那种牵动最初保管者的亲身经历。本文讨论了博物馆工作人员目前开展的研究，它涉及保护团体如何驾驭自身经历、记忆和不断变化的偏见来解释创伤藏品，以及如何采用以人为本的方式，让家庭成员和幸存者参与进来，从而确定那些本应凝固于时间中的文物的保护重点。

Keywords:

• memorial collections
• damage
• memory
• storytelling
• trauma
• bias

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the collections staff at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, the survivors and victims’ families who were willing to share their stories and the cultural heritage workers who completed our survey—all of whom were so honest and forthcoming on their experiences and observations—and Claire Zimmeth who contributed to the treatment of the Vesey Street Bike Rack. Dr Jan Seidler Ramirez (Executive Vice President, Collections & Chief Curator), Amy Weinstein (Senior Curator of Oral History & Vice President, Collections) and Lisa Conte (former Head of Conservation) at the 9/11 Memorial Museum provided valuable expertise and insight about their knowledge working with this collection.

Notes

1 The installation also includes Tom Joyce’s ‘No Day Shall Erase you for the Memory of Time’, a sculpture constructed from recovered World Trade Center steel of the quote from Book IX of The Aeneid by the Roman poet Virgil.

2 Randy Kennedy, ‘The Searing Blues of the 9/11 Sky’, New York Times, 14 May 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/arts/design/spencer-finch-turned-to-the-heavens-to-honor-the-dead.html (accessed 28 June 2023).

3 Corey Kilgannon, ‘“Reopening Old Wounds”: When 9/11 Remains Are Identified, 20 Years Later’, New York Times, published 6 September 2021, updated 22 June 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/06/nyregion/9-11-ground-zero-victims-remains.html (accessed 28 June 2023).

4 Cf. Jane Henderson, ‘Beyond Lifetimes: Who Do We Exclude When We Keep Things for the Future?’, Journal of the Institute of Conservation 43, no. 3 (2020): 195–212.

5 See Lisa Conte and Kerith Koss Schrager, ‘Reconsidering Dust in Approaches to the Preservation of 9/11 Artifacts’, in Prioritizing People in Ethical Decision-Making and Caring for Cultural Heritage Collections, ed. Nina Owczarek Herrera (London: Routledge, 2023), 169–84.

6 See Alice M. Greenwald, ‘Through the Lens of Memory: Creating the 9/11 Memorial Museum’, in No Day Shall Erase You: The Story of 9/11 as Told at the National September 11 Memorial Museum, ed. Alice M. Greenwald (New York: 9/11 Memorial, 2016), 11–31.

7 Randall Mason, ‘Valuing Traumatic Heritage Places as Archives and Agents Values in Heritage Management: Emerging Approaches and Research Directions’, in Values in Heritage Management: Emerging Approaches and Research Directions, ed. Erica C Avarmi (Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2019), 158–71, https://www.getty.edu/publications/heritagemanagement/part-two/11/ (accessed 28 June 2023).

8 Mason, ‘Valuing Traumatic Heritage Places’, 160–1.

9 See Lisa Conte, Joe Graham-Felsen, and Amanda Trienens, ‘The Slurry Wall: Past, Present, and Future’, Studies in Conservation 65, no. 1-Supp. (2020): 44–50.

10 Cf. Amy Weinstein, ‘Telling Stories at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum’, in Storytelling in Museums, ed. Adina Langer (Washington, DC: American Alliance of Museums, 2022), 25–32.

11 See Kerith Koss Schrager and Lisa Conte, ‘Handling of 9/11 Related Artifacts’ (survey, National September 11 Memorial and Museum, 2021). To view and/or take the survey see: https://tinyurl.com/Handling911Artifacts.

12 Cf. Jan Seidler Ramirez, ‘Present Imperfect: The New-York Historical Society’s Collection Odyssey of 9/11/01’, The New York Journal of American History (New York: The New York Historical Society, 2003): 49–74.

13 Deborah Sontag, ‘A Tour of Hangar 17’ (video, New York Times, produced by Erik Olsen 10 September 2006), https://www.nytimes.com/video/nyregion/1194817114086/a-tour-of-hangar-17.html?searchResultPosition = 1 (accessed 12 August 2023); Eric Lipton, ‘Surplus History From Ground Zero; Left Mostly Out of Memorial Designs, Trade Center Steel Sits Rusting in a Hangar’, The New York Times, 19 December 2003, https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/19/nyregion/surplus-history-ground-zero-left-mostly-memorial-designs-trade-center-steel-sits.html (accessed 28 June 2023).

14 See Lisa Conte and Kerith Koss Schrager, ‘When the Dust Isn’t Settled: Conversations in the Removal of Hazardous Material from World Trade Center Artifacts’ [presentation at Collection Care Network Session, American Institute for Conservation (AIC) 49th Annual Meeting, 2 June 2021].

15 Ramirez, ‘Present Imperfect’, 65.

16 Greenwald, ‘Through the Lens of Memory’, 12.

17 See Greenwald, ‘Through the Lens of Memory’; Conte and Koss Schrager, ‘When the Dust Isn’t Settled’.

18 Steven Weintraub, interview by Steven H. Jaffe, 4 April 2008, Collection, National September 11 Memorial & Museum (C.2008.82.1).

19 Jane E. Klinger, ‘When So Few Traces Remain’, Les Cahiers Irice 19, no. 2 (2017): 93–104; Jane E. Klinger, ‘The Importance of the Provenance of Damage’, in Edinburgh Conference Papers 2006: Proceedings from the Fifth International Conference of the Institute of Paper Conservation and the First International Conference of the Institute of Conservation, Book and Paper Group 26–29 July 2006, ed. Shulla Jaques (Edinburgh: Institute of Conservation, Book and Paper Group, 2006), 51–8.

20 Weintraub, interview.

21 John D. Childs, ‘Flight of Memory: The Conservation of a Temporary Structure for the 9/11 Memorial Museum’, Postprints of the Wooden Artifacts Group, American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Wooden Artifacts Group, (2013): 35–44, 35.

22 Weintraub, interview.

23 Amory Houghton, telephone conversation with authors, 22 February 2023.

24 Houghton, telephone conversation.

25 Amory Houghton, interview by Jenny Pachucki, 4 November 2010, Collection, National September 11 Memorial & Museum (C.2010.317.1).

26 For example see Lipton, ‘Surplus History From Ground Zero’.

27 The Museum’s online collection can be viewed at: https://collection.911memorial.org/.

28 Klinger, ‘The Importance of the Provenance of Damage’, 52.

29 Conservation focussed social media posts on the 9/11 Memorial Museum platforms generally receive positive responses, particularly relating to the appreciation that these artefacts are being thoughtfully cared for.

30 Cf. Romeo Vitelli, ‘Remembering 9/11’, Psychology Today, 23 March 2015, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/media-spotlight/201503/remembering-911 (accessed 28 June 2023).

31 Paul Lioy, Dust: The Inside Story of Its Role in the September 11th Aftermath (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011).

32 For more information see: https://911memorial.org/support/get-involved/911-memorial-museum-visionary-network (accessed 28 June 2023).

33 Fletcher Durant, ‘Conservation is Not Neutral (and Neither Are We)’ (presentation at the Institute of Conservation, Book & Paper Group, 2020), https://www.icon.org.uk/resource/lecture-35-fletcher-durant.html (accessed 28 June 2023).

34 Jan Seidler Ramirez, interview with Lisa Conte and Kerith Koss Schrager, 20 October 2020.

35 Koss Schrager and Conte, ‘Handling of 9/11 Related Artifacts’; Conte and Koss Schrager, ‘Reconsidering Dust’.

36 Koss Schrager and Conte, ‘Handling of 9/11 Related Artifacts’; Conte and Koss Schrager, ‘Reconsidering Dust’.

37 See Lisa Conte, Kerith Koss Schrager, and Adrienne Gendron, ‘Hazard or Artifact: How OEHS Informs Collection Management of World Trade Center Dust at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’, The Synergist, June/July (2021): 18–23; Adrienne Gendron, Lisa Conte, and Kerith Koss Schrager, ‘Ethical Considerations in the Removal of Hazardous Materials from Collection Objects: Case Studies from the National September Memorial and Museum’ (presentation at Preserving Our Heritage and Protecting Our Health, 29 October 2020).

38 Jane E. Klinger, ‘The Value of the Original and the Use of the Surrogate’, American Institute for Conservation Book and Paper Group Annual 26 (2007): 61–5.

39 Cf. Klinger, ‘The Importance of the Provenance of Damage’.

40 Weintraub, interview.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kerith Koss Schrager

Kerith Koss Schrager is Head of Conservation at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. She is an objects conservator and received her MA in Art History and Conservation from the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She completed a MS in Environmental Health Sciences in 2022 from New York University.

Andrew Wolf

Andrew Wolf is Assistant Conservator at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. He is an objects conservator and received his MA in Art History and MS in Conservation from the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.