New York State Museum Division of Research and Collections World Trade Center Collection and Exhibit Files

In the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center complex, the New York State Museum decided to document the impact of this event by collecting artifacts for its permanent collection and to support future exhibits. Two curators, Mark Schaming and Craig Williams, began visiting the Fresh Kills, Staten Island, facility created to process World Trade Center site debris and identifying artifacts documenting the attack and its aftermath. Schaming also played a key role in coordinating the activities of the State Museum with those of other organizations and in providing support and guidance to other institutions. The State Museum has subsequently developed one of the world's largest collection of artifacts relating to the 2001 World Trade Center attack.

This series consists of photographs that New York State Museum curator Mark Schaming took during visits to the Fresh Kills facility in late 2001 and the first half of 2002. They consist of negatives of nineteen rolls of color 35 mm film and corresponding 4"x6" color prints of approximately 250 images. They document the equipment and temporary structures that constituted the facility, the multi-stage debris sorting process, and airplane parts, structural elements, vehicles, personal effects, and other artifacts considered as possible additions to the State Museum's collections. Some of the photographs depict local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel, New York City Department of Sanitation employees, and other people who worked at the Fresh Kills site.

Selected photographs from this series have been digitized and are available in State Archives Digital Collections.

Item list.

Identifying images of law enforcement personnel are restricted.