9/11 Oral History Assignment

      In the days following 9/11, the Center of Oral History at Colombia University began to organize a project to document the terrorist attacks.  The project grew to include over 900 hours of audio and video recordings, and contains 22,000 pages of manuscripts.  The researchers at Colombia hope that the collection of their archive will be used by all types of scholars, not just historians and sociologists.

     You are going to be taking part in your own personal 9/11 Oral History Project in the hope of obtaining a better understanding of the events that happened that day, but also how people respond in times of urgency and crisis.  For me, 9/11 is a day of a million stories, stories of evil, heroism, selflessness,  and generosity.  Every memory of what occurred that day, is part of our nation's history and part of our American story.

Over the years, I have had students send me videos that they have found online about acts of bravery and generosity that took place on September 11th. These stories are very moving and have helped remind me of the goodness that also occurred that day. I am sharing them with you, but you do not have to watch these videos in order to complete the assignment.

The story of Gander Newfoundland's role on September 11th.

A little known story called Boatlift, about the evacuation of lower Manhattan on September 11th.

A former BC lacrosse player choosing putting others before his own well being.


Last February I had the opportunity to visit the 9/11 Memorial in New York City with the Washington D.C. trip.  The Memorial Site is still under construction but it is nearing completion.  Here is a link to their website. 

If you have any questions regarding your homework assignment, please e-mail me before Friday so that I can offer some help.

Thank you,

Mr. M