FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Thursday, May 21, 2009

NATIONAL SEPTEMBER 11 MEMORIAL & MUSEUM AND VOICES OF SEPTEMBER 11^th ANNOUNCE COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP TO SUPPORT 9/11 LIVING MEMORIAL PROJECT

Growing Online Database of Tributes, Victims’ Biographies, and 9/11 Resources to be Incorporated into Memorial Museum

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum and VOICES of September 11 today announced a formal collaboration to support the 9/11 Living Memorial Project and incorporate VOICES’ growing digital archive of remembrances into the Memorial Museum.

The 9/11 Living Memorial is an interactive, digitized, and searchable database designed to commemorate individual lives and stories, which includes biographical profiles and photographs of 9/11 victims; remembrances and tributes from families, friends, and colleagues; scanned images of keepsakes and artifacts significant to the individuals; information on memorials and charitable foundations established to perpetuate legacies; and artistic reflections post-9/11.

9/11 Memorial & Museum President and CEO Joe Daniels said, “It is a core component of the Memorial Museum to preserve and express the stories of the individual lives lost in the attacks of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001. The 9/11 Living Memorial Project is a tremendous resource that draws upon the participation of family members, friends and colleagues in the commemoration of their loved ones.”

9/11 Memorial Museum Director Alice M. Greenwald said, “This collaboration is a tremendous opportunity for the Memorial Museum to reach out to the networks of an established family advocacy group to build a critical archive. As the Museum is built, the 9/11 Living Memorial Project will allow family members and loved ones to create their own tributes, while helping to shape the content of the Museum.”

VOICES of September 11^th Founding Director Mary Fetchet said, “The 9/11 Living Memorial Project grew out of the needs of the families to memorialize their loved ones and the obligation of the nation to document the history of that day. VOICES recognized the need of those impacted to explain in personal terms the affect that 9/11 had on the world. By providing an opportunity for families to paint a portrait of their loved ones and survivors to share their stories, their memories are preserved in a meaningful way. It is our hope that by documenting the memorials and foundations created in their memory we will convey the same spirit of unity and shared humanity that was felt around our nation.

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“Through the support of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, we ensure that future generations will always remember what happened on that fateful day, the loss we all suffered, the heroism, and how we all came together as one. This collaborative effort to create a comprehensive archive will permanently preserve the memories and the inspiring stories of September 11, 2001,” said Mary Fetchet.

The 9/11 Living Memorial provides an online forum for reflection, remembrance, interaction, education and scholarly research. It was conceived and initiated by September’s Mission Foundation in 2002, with input and guidance from family members, other members of the 9/11 community and volunteer advisors from the historical archive and museum professions. In 2006, the project was launched by VOICES of September 11^th, which hosts the digital archive at www.911livingmemorial.org. VOICES holds workshops across the country meeting with families one-on-one. To date, thousands of tribute pages have been created to commemorate the lives lost.

September’s Mission Foundation Founder and 9/11 Memorial & Museum Board Member Monica Iken said, “Honoring our loved ones by putting faces with names, and helping the world understand how precious each person is through the stories of how they lived their lives is one of the most important legacies we can leave for future generations. The 9/11 Living Memorial meaningfully engages victims’ families and survivors where we can all feel ownership in the Memorial & Museum. We are grateful to VOICES of September 11^th and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum for their assistance in helping make the vision for the 9/11 Living Memorial a reality.”

For victims’ families, the 9/11 Living Memorial provides both a public and private place to keep memories of loved ones alive by documenting their lives, sharing pictures, videos, stories and other recollections. For all children who were impacted by 9/11, including children who suffered the loss of a parent, grandparent, or strong adult figure, it aims to provide an age appropriate place for learning, understanding and communicating about the events of 9/11 and the tragic reality of terrorism.

As the first step in the collaborative partnership, the Memorial & Museum will join VOICES at workshops that allow family members of victims (from the 1993 WTC bombing, the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and 9/11-related illnesses), first responders, and survivors to contribute to the 9/11 Living Memorial. The material collected at these workshops will help shape the exhibitions and biographical webbing of the Memorial Museum. Moving forward, VOICES will work with contributors to identify historical material appropriate for the Museum’s primary exhibitions and permanent collection. Once the Museum opens, the database will adhere to the technological platform of the Museum and will be accessible to visitors through the Museum’s website and in various onsite facilities.

The Memorial Museum will include artifacts, oral histories, films, interactive exhibitions, a resource center, contemplative areas, a changing exhibition gallery and educational programming, which will convey individual and collective stories honoring the memory of the victims and recounting the experiences of survivors, responders, volunteers, area residents, and witnesses.

The Memorial Museum will help facilitate an encounter with both the enormity of the loss, the specificity of those deaths and injuries and the triumph of the human spirit that are at the heart of 9/11, as it affirms the courage, compassion, sacrifice and resilience–the best of humanity–demonstrated at a moment of cataclysmic tragedy.

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ABOUT VOICES OF SEPTEMBER 11th

VOICES of September 11th advocates and provides services for all those affected by September 11^th, including over 7,000 9/11 families, rescue workers and survivors. The organization promotes public policy reform on prevention, preparedness and response to terrorism; and builds bridges between international communities changed by terrorism. VOICES is a nonpartisan advocacy group led by founding director and clinical social worker, Mary Fetchet, whose son, Brad, 24, perished in the World Trade Center Attacks.  

In 2006 VOICES launched the 9/11 Living Memorial Project, a digital archive currently online at www.911livingmemorial.org, which commemorates the lives lost and documents firsthand accounts of rescue workers and survivors. The project includes extensive collections of photographs, written tributes and personal keepsakes as well as documentation of memorials and memorial foundations. A family tribute page has been created for each of the nearly 3,000 victims along with a personal guestbook in which family, friends and co-workers can share their reflections. The archive will expand over time to include audio and video. Donations for the 9/11 Living Memorial Project can be made to Voices of September 11th online at   www.voicesofsept11.org or by contacting the VOICES office at 203-966-3911. 

ABOUT THE NATIONAL SEPTEMBER 11 MEMORIAL & MUSEUM

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is the not-for-profit corporation created to realize the Memorial quadrant at the World Trade Center site. The organization is responsible for raising the funds and overseeing the design for the project and will program and operate the Memorial & Museum located on 8 of the 16 acres of the site.

The Memorial will remember and honor the thousands of people who died in the horrific attacks of February 26, 1993, and September 11, 2001.  The design, created by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, consists of two pools that reside in the footprints of the original Twin Towers, surrounded by a plaza of oak trees.  The Arad/Walker design was selected from a design competition that included more than 5,000 entrants from 63 nations.

The Memorial Museum will display monumental artifacts associated with the events of September 11, while presenting intimate stories of loss, compassion, reckoning and recovery that are central to telling the story of September 11 and its aftermath.  It will communicate key messages that embrace both the specificity and the universal implications of the events of 9/11; document the impact of those events on individual lives, as well as on local, national, and international communities; and explore the continuing significance of these events for our global community.

Donations can be made through and more information can be found at the Memorial & Museum’s website, www.national911memorial.org, or by calling 1-877-WTC-GIVE.

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Contact:

Memorial & Museum : Lynn Rasic/Michelle Breslauer: 212-312-8800

VOICES:

Nonnie Gerber - ngerber@voicesofsept11.org - 203- 966-3911 or 917-767-7243

Mary Fetchet - mafetchet@voicesofsept11.org - 203-966-3911 or 203-321-5563