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NY Historical Society Offers Quiet Place to Reflect on 9/11

The New York Historical Society will display hundreds of photographs by both journalists and ordinary people at its Remembering 9/11 installation, which runs from Sept. 7, 2001 until April 2012.
The New York Historical Society will display hundreds of photographs by both journalists and ordinary people at its Remembering 9/11 installation, which runs from Sept. 7, 2001 until April 2012.
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Gulnara Samoilova

UPPER WEST SIDE — The New York Historical Society will mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with an installation where the public can contemplate the attacks and their aftermath.

The show, "Remembering 9/11," opens Sept. 7, 2011 and will run through April 2012. Unlike traditional exhibitions at the New York Historical Society, there's no attempt to teach the viewer, said curator Marilyn Kushner.

Instead, it intends to allow viewers to reflect on their own memories of the horrific day.

"This is a collection of all the different memories that so many of us have together, and a way to sort it out," Kushner said.

"I don't know if anybody will be able to ever completely sort it out. This is not a teaching exhibition, it’s more come and contemplate in peaceful place. Remember, and have hope for the future."

The New York Historical Society will display hundreds of photographs by both journalists and ordinary people at its Remembering 9/11 installation, which runs from Sept. 7, 2001 until April 2012.
The New York Historical Society will display hundreds of photographs by both journalists and ordinary people at its Remembering 9/11 installation, which runs from Sept. 7, 2001 until April 2012.
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Seymour Levy

Kushner drew on the historical society's vast trove of artifacts associated with September 11, 2001, including hundreds of photographs by journalists, as well as those taken by ordinary people.

The installation will also feature letters written by children to firefighters and police officers, audio recordings made by members of the public immediately following the attacks, as well as the full text of the New York Times Portraits of Grief series, the written biographies of 9/11 victims.

Kushner also hand selected objects from the society's collection of makeshift shrines that popped up around the city following the attacks, focusing on artifacts that evoked specific memories of that period, such as candles, wreaths and handmade cards.

There will also be a focus on healing, hope and the future, Kushner said. Photographs of the Tribute of Light — the beams of light shot into the sky at the World Trade Center site as a symbol of hope — will be displayed.

"I don't know about anybody else, but I've learned that human feelings are universal," Kushner said. "When I see those shafts of light go up in the sky, I find comfort in it and I can’t explain why."