20th Anniversary 9/11

On September 11, 2001, I Became an Archivist

...by Michael Ragsdale

I used to do event videos in New York City. It was an amazing experience. My role as an archivist started at my second C-SPAN assignment in 1997. On President’s Day, a coworker and I had the task of covering actor Barry Bostwick reading letters written by George Washington. Bostwick was chosen because he had played the president on television. After the program was over, I obtained Bostwick’s autograph on an official event program. It had been so easy, I immediately decided to document my entire video career in the same manner—by collecting event ephemera and obtaining the autographs of the participants.

I followed that acquisition with: AIDS activist Mary Fisher at an Occupation Therapy Convocation and Awards ceremony: Israel statesman Abba Eban when he spoke about his book, For the Next Century at the Carnegie Council; activist and comedian Dick Gregory when he appeared at a Hospital Union luncheon; and William F. Buckley at a talk about his book, Nearer My God at the Women’s National Republican Club. Ending the collecting effort in 2013, the archive consists of over 2000 event materials and hundreds of autographs.

But on September 11, 2001, I decided to document the historic event in a way no one else would. How? In two different ways. I got the idea for the collecting effort after picking up a discarded ATM receipt on the evening of 9/11.There were dozens on the floor below two ATM machines in a hallway at Columbia University Medical Center. It read, ‘TRANSACTION DENIED’ and ‘9/11/01’ and I immediately said to myself, “This little piece of paper is history.” I then noticed one of many fliers that someone had taped on the wall calling for blood, batteries and other supplies, and got the idea to gather paper ephemera that would show how the city reacted to the terrorist attacks. That archive

encompasses 4,000 pieces of paper ephemera. Then, after I exhibited my collection in Connecticut, Queens and Manhattan, I gave talks about it and received a lot of attention from the news media. The content Michael Ragsdale developers of the future 9/11 Museum saw my collection and acquired it. I also chose to video document 9/11-related events. Some of my first video assignments after 9/11 placed me at the United Nations covering foreign dignitaries at the 2001 Seattleite Michael Ragsdale started an General archive on 9/11/01 while working as a video journalist with C-SPAN Assembly meeting addressing international terrorism, at the National Foreign Trade Council’s 2001 World Trade dinner at the Plaza Hotel featuring remarks from Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, and when Vice President Dick Cheney first appeared in public after 9/11 at the Fifty-sixth Annual Alfred E. Smith Dinner. On my own I visited the city’s first post-9/11 Town Hall meeting at the Great Hall at Cooper Union, a candlelight vigil in Maspeth, Queens for 19 firefighters who died on 9/11, and an interfaith prayer service and protest march to Times Square the day the U.S. invaded Afghanistan. Later I videotaped WTC burn victims when they were released from NewYork Presbyterian Hospital/Cornell, and the West Point Military Academy’s 2002 graduation where President Bush spoke about a preemptive strike for the first time in public. I ended up collecting 1000 event materials at 200 events. The collection became New York City 9/11 aftermath history and—as serious as the topic is—it was loads of fun to collect. ❖ Now retired at age 67, Michael Ragsdale lives in Seattle at Northaven Senior Living. He used to reside in New York City where he was, among other things, C-SPAN’s first video journalist. He is currently writing a book about his eventvideo career, which includes 9/11-related events and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. His book will be a collection of stories including his experiences in sharing his historic 9/11-related archives with New York City, the U.S. and the world.

Recollections of a New York City Police Officer

...by Suzanne G. Beyer

Officer Eugene Messmer of the New York Police Department (NYPD) remembers September 11, 2001 vividly. As it was Primary Election Day, he was assigned to work at the polling place in an uptown Manhattan school.

Messmer recalls, “I initially heard radio traffic on my portable radio and I knew something very serious had happened.”

Radio traffic that day stated the police department was mobilizing police resources to respond to the World Trade Center.

“Generally, a city mobilization is from 1 to 4. Level 4 is the highest. A level 4 is what I heard on the radio.” Messmer remembers telling people at the election site to prepare to close because the Primary Election One World Trade Center, or The Freedom Tower, now reigns over the site of the former World Trade was going to be suspended. He Center buildings. Construction was told to return began in 2006, completed in 2015. to his original command center, the 18th Precinct in Midtown North located at 54th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. “I was reassigned to stay in my continued on page 13

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Suzanne Beyer of Bothell wrote a very touching companion piece to her article about Officer Messmer. It is about her visit to Ground Zero one year after 9/11. Read an excerpt below:

The Wrought Iron Fence: Another

layer of history. It was September 2002 and my 40th class reunion from Curtis High School, Staten Island. Five of us classmates boarded the Staten Island ferry to pay respects at Ground Zero, before the evening reunion festivities began. Teary-eyed Suzanne and her classmates reunite in New York My hands sweat as I held my breath in anticipation of witnessing the horror of City for their 40th high school what I’d seen on TV a year prior. A chain reunion September 2002, but first pay tribute at the wrought iron fence surrounding St. Paul's link fence separated us from the mammoth construction site that lay in front. I tried Chapel. Mementos from around to visualize the World Trade Center that world (seen behind the group) honor those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. heart-wrenching 9/11 day, where almost 3000 innocent people were killed. My heart and head just couldn’t accept or comprehend such devastation. My emotions were at a loss, frozen. I looked behind me to the south side of Ground Zero to see a building-size poster that read, “The human spirit is not measured by the size of the act, but by the size of the heart.” The poster’s message echoed in my head as we crossed the street to nearby St. Paul’s Chapel. Although it had been a year since the terrorist attacks, St. Paul’s wrought iron fence had completely disappeared behind the make-shift memorial of world-wide tributes showing honor, love and respect for those souls lost. This miracle 1774 chapel, the oldest church building in New York City that survived a massive city fire in 1776, remained intact, untouched by the horrific events of September 11th. “The little chapel that stood,” served as a safe refuge for first responders and volunteers working on “the pile” at Ground Zero. Food, water, pews to sleep on, spiritual guidance – even foot massages in the booth where George Two pools now sit in the footprints of the World Trade Center buildings. Names of the fallen are engraved in Washington prayed – helped ease their stone surrounding each pool. A white mental, emotional and physical stress. St. Paul’s provided help and support for rose is placed on the names, signifying a birthday. many months following and became a memorial inside, as well as on the wrought iron fence outside. For hundreds of visitors wishing to pay their respects, St. Paul’s offered a safe place to grieve, including our teary-eyed group of high school friends. Historic St. Paul’s Chapel, surrounded by its wrought iron fence, now housed another layer of history to never be forgotten.