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CNN Live Saturday
New Traveling Exhibit Displays Relics From 9/11
Aired December 06, 2003 - 18:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: A new traveling exhibit from the New York State museum displays mundane objects transformed into precious relics by the tragedy of 9/11. Amy Weinstein is associate curator of the New York Historical Society where the exhibit is now on display. Amy thanks for being here today.
AMY WEINSTEIN, ASSOCIATE CURATOR, NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Thank you.
LIN: Now, give us a little background on exactly how this idea came up. I understand it actually came from some of the workers at the Fresh Kills land sight where much of the debris ended up.
WEINSTEIN: Well, the workers really helped to select the objects for preservation. Many of the museums, including the historical society and the New York State Museum decided to begin collecting and preserving evidence of the attacks on the World Trade Center soon after the attacks of September 11th.
LIN: Go ahead.
WEINSTEIN: The objects in this exhibition were actually selected by many of the workers at the landfill.
LIN: You can't save everything, so what is it that you save and what is it that you toss?
WEINSTEIN: Well, we didn't toss anything, but we made very careful decisions about what to save. Choosing objects that express the power of the attack, the impact. So sections of steel beams that are twisted or have huge gashes in them, crushed police car doors, trunk lids of police cars, crushed fire engines. We have in the exhibition a piece of crushed metal that seems to have been a door but nobody has yet been able to identify it.
LIN: It sounds like you are looking for pieces that really express the violence of that day.
WEINSTEIN: Both violence and also the ordinary lives of the people who were lost that day. There were many keys, many of them stamped World Trade Center do not duplicate. The exhibitions also includes a steering wheel from a BMW that was torn from the car. We don't know what car it actually belonged to. Campaign - if you remember, it was an election day in New York City there was campaign literature.
LIN: What's it like to look at these items. They are not piled in rubble. They are not at the scenes anymore. They are isolated in a standalone fashion. What is it like to actually look at them now?
WEINSTEIN: Well, many of the visitors have told us that it has brought September 11th back to them in a very vivid emotional, visceral way. I can't help but remember what they look like at the landfill. It was very grey and almost no color there except for the red of the fire engines, a little bit of yellow from a taxi cab, blue from the police cars. So it does bring the work at the landfill back.
LIN: Yes, and brave work, indeed. Amy, how long is this display going on for?
WEINSTEIN: The exhibit will be up at the New York Historical Society through March 21st. And then it will travel to other parts of the country.
LIN: OK, we will look forward to it coming to a neighborhood near us. Thank you very much, Amy Weinstein.
WEINSTEIN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 6, 2003 - 18:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: A new traveling exhibit from the New York State museum displays mundane objects transformed into precious relics by the tragedy of 9/11. Amy Weinstein is associate curator of the New York Historical Society where the exhibit is now on display. Amy thanks for being here today.
AMY WEINSTEIN, ASSOCIATE CURATOR, NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Thank you.
LIN: Now, give us a little background on exactly how this idea came up. I understand it actually came from some of the workers at the Fresh Kills land sight where much of the debris ended up.
WEINSTEIN: Well, the workers really helped to select the objects for preservation. Many of the museums, including the historical society and the New York State Museum decided to begin collecting and preserving evidence of the attacks on the World Trade Center soon after the attacks of September 11th.
LIN: Go ahead.
WEINSTEIN: The objects in this exhibition were actually selected by many of the workers at the landfill.
LIN: You can't save everything, so what is it that you save and what is it that you toss?
WEINSTEIN: Well, we didn't toss anything, but we made very careful decisions about what to save. Choosing objects that express the power of the attack, the impact. So sections of steel beams that are twisted or have huge gashes in them, crushed police car doors, trunk lids of police cars, crushed fire engines. We have in the exhibition a piece of crushed metal that seems to have been a door but nobody has yet been able to identify it.
LIN: It sounds like you are looking for pieces that really express the violence of that day.
WEINSTEIN: Both violence and also the ordinary lives of the people who were lost that day. There were many keys, many of them stamped World Trade Center do not duplicate. The exhibitions also includes a steering wheel from a BMW that was torn from the car. We don't know what car it actually belonged to. Campaign - if you remember, it was an election day in New York City there was campaign literature.
LIN: What's it like to look at these items. They are not piled in rubble. They are not at the scenes anymore. They are isolated in a standalone fashion. What is it like to actually look at them now?
WEINSTEIN: Well, many of the visitors have told us that it has brought September 11th back to them in a very vivid emotional, visceral way. I can't help but remember what they look like at the landfill. It was very grey and almost no color there except for the red of the fire engines, a little bit of yellow from a taxi cab, blue from the police cars. So it does bring the work at the landfill back.
LIN: Yes, and brave work, indeed. Amy, how long is this display going on for?
WEINSTEIN: The exhibit will be up at the New York Historical Society through March 21st. And then it will travel to other parts of the country.
LIN: OK, we will look forward to it coming to a neighborhood near us. Thank you very much, Amy Weinstein.
WEINSTEIN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
