JOHN YANG: With memory of 9/11 fading for
some, and images of that day unknown to a
younger generation, the Smithsonian
Institution is piecing together
history object by object.
William Brangham is back with a
behind-the-scenes look, part of our
arts and culture series, Canvas.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM:
Tucked away within the National Museum
of American History in Washington, D.C.,
are some of the most personal and
poignant relics from September 11.
PETER LIEBHOLD, Curator Emeritus,
National Museum of American History:
There were people that really
wanted to make sure that the loss,
the sacrifice, the experience of
their loved ones was recorded.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Back in 2002,
Congress tasked the museum
with preserving the story of 9/11 in
artifacts from that day and beyond.
PETER LIEBHOLD: Collecting is truly a
black art. There's no book on how to
do it. We wanted to collect those
icons, those really important
pieces that create a signpost.
Today, there are deniers of the
Holocaust. We hear from Afghanistan
that the Taliban is denying that
Osama bin Laden was
involved in September 11,
that having those artifacts
that make it undeniable that
something happened is so critical.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: There is no
special exhibit right now, in
part because of the pandemic,
but the museum rotates many
of its some-300 objects from
9/11 in and out of exhibitions.
PETER LIEBHOLD: This is a piece of
steel from the World Trade Center.
We traveled to the scrap yard,
picked out a piece that we really
thought looked like the emotion
of the place, and collected it.
The World Trade Center was
assembled like a Tinkertoy set,
in little pieces that could
be put together. And we could
actually figure out whose office
this was that -- who it represented.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In addition to the
steel beam, other items from that day
are this airphone from Flight 93,
where passengers and crew fought
the terrorists and downed the
plane in rural Pennsylvania,
and this I.D. card worn by Navy
Commander Patrick Dunn, who'd kissed
his pregnant wife goodbye before
heading to the Pentagon, where
he was killed in the attack.
There's the cell phone used by
then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani
as he helped his city respond.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), Former Mayor
of New York: All right, let's
get -- let's go north then.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The angry aftermath
of 9/11 is reflected as well.
This Sikh turban belonged to Balbir Singh
Sodhi, who was murdered in a hate crime,
mistakenly targeted as a
Muslim in the days after the
attacks. Other powerful objects
came from the donations of loved
ones. New York Fire Chief Joseph
Pfeifer was one of the initial
commanders on scene at the World
Trade Center, directing firefighters
up into the burning towers.
One of those firemen
was his brother Kevin.
JOSEPH PFEIFER, Author, "Ordinary
Heroes": And we stood there
and we looked at each other,
wondering if each of us was going to
be OK. And then I told him to go up,
to evacuate and to rescue people
in the building. And that was the
last time I saw my brother Kevin.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: His brother's
body was discovered in the
smoldering wreckage days later,
along with Kevin's officer's tool, which
is an implement used to wedge open doors.
JOSEPH PFEIFER: And we knew it
was him because on the back of
his bunker gear it had his name.
And lying next to him was his
officer's tool. And they put him
in a stretcher along with this tool
and covered him with an American flag,
and we carried him out of ground zero.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Joe Pfeifer
later donated Kevin's officer's
tool to the Smithsonian.
JOSEPH PFEIFER: I hope that
they come away understanding
that they represent what I call
ordinary heroes. That day, as my brother
was coming up, people were coming down.
And he was -- he was telling them, don't
stop, keep going, you can get out of here.
He stopped to take and redirect people
from one stairs to a safer
stairs, a faster way out. And
I'm sure he used that tool
to point. Doing ordinary things at an
extraordinary time made a difference.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Twenty year
ago, Univision reporter Blanca
Rosa Vilchez in her blue suit was out
covering the New York mayoral race.
But when the towers fell,
millions watched her in real time.
After days reporting on the
attack, Vilchez put that outfit
unwashed into the back of her
closet. Years later, she too
donated it to the Smithsonian.
BLANCA ROSA VILCHEZ, Univision:
What have we learned in these
20 years. This person who
ran with the jacket is alive. How
is she doing now? What happened
to the country in 20 years?
And if that jacket talks to us,
the person himself or herself,
that question, that jacket doesn't
belong to me. It belongs to a museum.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Her outfit
will soon be part of a new
larger Latino exhibit examining
9/11's impact on that community.
CEDRIC YEH, Curator, National Museum of
American History: Individual communities
were affected on different levels.
And this is our opportunity to
be able to tell their story,
because it allows us to tell the broader
story, especially after 20 years.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In another
area of the museum, photo curator
Shannon Perich continues to add to
the over 1,000 photos the Smithsonian
has gathered to help document
that day and its ripple effects.
SHANNON PERICH, Curator, National
Museum of American History: This is
a body of work by photojournalist
Ashley Gilbertson, who created a
who created a series and a book
called "Bedrooms of the Fallen."
It's an homage to those soldiers
who gave their lives in the
line of duty in Afghanistan in
particular. But it also reminds
us of where the war takes place.
It takes place at the home front.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For the past 18 years,
the Smithsonian has been building this
time-capsule-like collection,
including this clock from the Pentagon
frozen in time the moment the
plane hit, a reminder for all time.
For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm William Brangham.
JOHN YANG: The public can share stories,
see photos and artifacts, and watch
discussions on the National
Museum of American History's Web
site, Americanhistory.si.edu.