September 11 Digital Archive

The Sonic Memorial Project

Title

The Sonic Memorial Project

Description

SonicMemorial.org is an open archive and an online audio installation of the history of The World Trade Center. It collected stories, ambient sounds, voicemails, and archival recordings to tell the rich history of the twin towers, the neighborhood and the events of 9/11. Led by NPR's Lost & Found Sound, The Sonic Memorial Project is a cross-media collaboration of more than 50 independent radio and new media producers, artists, historians, and people from around the world who have contributed personal and archival recordings. To date, we have gathered more than 1,000 contributions, many of which have been woven into feature stories by Lost & Found Sound and broadcast on NPR. SonicMemorial.org is produced by Picture Projects and dotsperinch in collaboration with Lost & Found Sound.

Items in the The Sonic Memorial Project Collection

Nebraskan Lyn Norton recorded the reactions of people in her town to 9/11.

Georgia resident Laurie Easterlin's 12-year-old daughter wrote a tribute to the people affected by 9/11; Easterlin reads the lyrics.

Steve Ohr wrote a story about an adventure he had on the 89th floor of the WTC in 1976.

Miriam Lefkowitz is grieving for the lost towers. In the 1970s, she used to walk to the WTC from Banker's Trust and bicycle around. After she moved to New Jersey, she commuted on the PATH.

Chuck Hyman was working a block away from the WTC on 9/11. To him, the buildings were like friends, and he misses them. His family celebrated many special occasions at Windows on the World.

Patricia O'Grady describes the turn-of-the-millennium party she attended on New Years at Windows on the World.

Oregonian Stan Strange recalls being awakened by a dog wailing on 9/11, something he has never heard before or since. He immediately knew something had happened.

Arizonan Kathleen Paul used to live on Long Island and remembers pulling off the road during her commute to watch the sun setting between the towers.

Adrianna Bravo, a young doctor at St. Vincent's Hospital, reads her journal entries from 9/11. She felt so unprepared for her first look at war and describes treating firemen and policemen.

Marianne Engles came to Ground Zero after 9/11 with a San Diego disaster team. She found the sounds of the heavy equipment, the wrecking balls, very oppressive and vivid.

At Windows on the World not long ago, Joan Sulfur ran into a man she hadn't seen since the 1960s--they have since gotten married.

Deborah Calandrillo lost her husband, Joseph, in the WTC attacks. On September 11th, she belatedly checked her email and recieved his last e-mail sent Friday before the attack. What, no more love and kisses? he wrote jokingly.

Sena Omotunde has been living in the United States for 15 years, but it wasn't until after 9/11 that she felt a powerful draw to become an American citizen.

Janice Silversteen, a coin collector, went to the observation deck to use the penny pressing machine, which makes an elongated penny with the WTC on it.

Cheryl Spalding recalls news on 9/11 and how frightened she felt.

In 1993 TV producer Steve Alpert made a documentary for New York Telephone Company in response to the bombing at the WTC.

When Trauter Worsheck's father came to visit from Germany, they went to dinner at sunset at Windows on the World. She remembers his father's laughter.

Poet David Kay reads his poem, After, about 9/11.

Roddy Hatala talks about taking visiting foreign scholars up to the WTC observation deck. He remembers being surprised that the lights are never shut off--and the time an 83-year-old woman said that looking straight down was almost like having sex.

Karim, a downtown resident who worked until 2 a.m. in Tribeca, recalls riding his bike home and stopping along the way at the WTC plaza. He would lie there and look up at the towers.

Collection Tree

  • Audio
    • The Sonic Memorial Project