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Smithsonian Artifacts That Tell the Story of 9/11 | At the Smithsonian | Smithsonian Magazine

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From a Pentagon rescuer’s uniform to a Flight 93 crew log, these objects commemorate the 20th anniversary of a national tragedy

By Meilan Solly, SMITHSONIANMAG.COM | Sept. 8, 2021, 8:43 a.m.

Screenshot…

Following the tragedies that took place on September 11, 2001, curators at the Smithsonian Institution recognized the urgency of documenting this unprecedented moment in American history.

After Congress designated the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History as the official repository for all related objects, photographs and documents, staff focused their attention on three areas: the attacks themselves, first responders and recovery efforts.

As time passed, curators expanded their purview to include the nation’s response to the tragedy, recording 9/11’s reverberations across the country. “This effectively put a net over the story, covering what happened on that day, then plus one month, plus one year,” says Cedric Yeh, curator of the museum’s National September 11 Collection.

“But [this net] had a lot of holes. I don’t mean holes in the curators’ work, but [rather], there were areas not covered because it was impossible to cover the entirety of the story.”

Source: Smithsonian Artifacts That Tell the Story of 9/11 | At the Smithsonian | Smithsonian Magazine

Current Affairs, Memories & History, Science & Health, Web & Technology

What Structural Engineers Learned from 9/11 – Scientific American

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By Donald Dusenberry, on September 8, 2021

Members of the profession study such tragic events to try and ensure that something similar won’t happen again

Credit: Donald Dusenberry

https://anchor.fm/drweb/embed/episodes/What-Structural-Engineers-Learned-from-911–Scientific-American-e17579v

The events of 9/11 shook the world.

Before that day, we could not imagine that someone would be bold and cruel enough to enact such violence. We could not imagine that two iconic 110-story skyscrapers would collapse in the middle of a U.S. city, gouging and crushing other buildings for hundreds of feet in all directions.

We asked ourselves, “How could this possibly happen? How could they collapse?” These are natural questions that express the scope of the loss we felt on that day.

Structural engineers asked these questions, too, but they also asked the contrasting question: How did the World Trade Center towers manage to stand up to the attack at all, even for a short while? The damage was extensive. Commercial aircraft flying at nearly top speed crashed into the buildings, cutting wide swaths through the exterior walls and inflicting extensive interior damage. Shouldn’t that have been enough to cause immediate collapse?

Source: What Structural Engineers Learned from 9/11 – Scientific American

Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Love & Relationships, Memories & History, Politics, Television

‘9/11: One Day in America’ Team on the ‘Best and Worst of Humanity’ – Variety

By Danielle Turchiano

Courtesy of Beck Media

Twenty years after the tragic events of 9/11, it’s hard to imagine anyone doesn’t have the images of the Twin Towers, whether on fire or collapsing, permanently etched in their brains.

But there were other events of the day — from the crash at the Pentagon, to the hole United Airlines Flight 93 created in a field in Somerset County, Penn., to individual stories of escape and survival and bravery — that may have receded to the backs of memories.

And for Gen Z, those stories are just stories — not memories at all. The filmmakers behind “9/11: One Day in America,” a new six-part docuseries that premiered at Tribeca Film Festival but is launching just ahead of the milestone anniversary (on Aug. 29) on National Geographic, knew they therefore had to be “unflinching but respectful,” as producer Caroline Marsden puts it, in the archival footage they selected to include, as well as the tales they chose to have recounted.

Source: ‘9/11: One Day in America’ Team on the ‘Best and Worst of Humanity’ – Variety

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Libraries

Let’s Dig Through The NYPL’s Most Treasured Items – Gothamist

by Jen Carlson, Aug 23, 5:49 PM

Gottesman Hall at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building being prepared for Treasures
Jonathan Blanc / NYPL

Over the years we have dipped into the unending well of treasures stored away at the New York Public Library time and again — in doing so, we’ve gotten an extremely rare look at Sylvia Plath’s childhood manuscripts; listened to Shirley Chisholm’s victory speech upon becoming the first Black congresswoman in U.S. history; dug through 1970s photos of Brooklyn homes; discovered that Charles Dickens’s cat’s paw is tucked away in the Berg Collection and still shedding; and even found the answer to the age-old question: is the 1960s World’s Fair Underground Home still buried in Queens?

The NYPL’s 5th Avenue building itself is even a historical treasure, with remnants of the old Croton Reservoir hiding in plain sight.

Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item…

Source: Let’s Dig Through The NYPL’s Most Treasured Items – Gothamist

Books & Reading, Libraries

Glorious return: New York Public Library reopens all branches Tuesday, including Rose Main Reading Room | amNewYork

By Kevin Duggan, Posted on

Max Touhey

Read all about it!

New York City bookworms can rejoice as Gotham’s three public library systems will return to almost full service this month, starting with a bunch of branches reopening Tuesday.

The New York Public Library will open nearly all its outposts on July 6, including the iconic Rose Main Reading Room at its Main Branch on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, lending honchos announced.

“We know how important public libraries are to New Yorkers and to the reawakening and recovery of our great city,” said NYPL President Anthony Marx in a statement Monday. “We, like all New Yorkers, have been eagerly moving toward the moment we can more fully restore a familiar, near pre-pandemic service model throughout the system, and are so excited that —thanks to the vaccination progress — that moment is now.”

Source: Glorious return: New York Public Library reopens all branches Tuesday, including Rose Main Reading Room | amNewYork

Current Affairs

Trump Organization Is Charged in 15-Year Tax Scheme – The New York Times

By Ben Protess, William K. Rashbaum and Jonah E. Bromwich, July 1, 2021Updated 3:46 p.m. ET

Allen Weisselberg, center, surrendered Thursday morning at the Lower Manhattan building that houses the criminal courts and the district attorney’s office.Credit…Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times

The Trump Organization, the real estate business that catapulted Donald J. Trump to tabloid fame, television riches and ultimately the White House, was charged Thursday with running a 15-year scheme to help executives avoid paying taxes by compensating them off the books.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which has been conducting the investigation, also accused a top executive, Allen H. Weisselberg, of dodging taxes on $1.7 million in perks that should have been reported as income.

Mr. Weisselberg, Mr. Trump’s long-serving and trusted chief financial officer, faced grand larceny, tax fraud and other charges.

Editor’s Note: Stay tuned for more on this.. more indictments.. trials…

Source: Trump Organization Is Charged in 15-Year Tax Scheme – The New York Times