An effort by the Cathedral of the Pines to record local memories of Sept. 11, 2001, drew only two community participants on Friday — underscoring both the challenge of capturing oral histories and a growing generational shift as a new cohort comes of age with no living memory of the attacks.
On Friday, which marked the 25th anniversary of the attacks, the Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge hosted a continuous screening of the three-part National Geographic documentary series “9/11 Reunited.” Staff also invited residents to record their memories of the day and its aftermath for an ongoing archival project.
“This was something we decided would be a useful thing to do, given that many kids and young adults were not around,” said Cathedral of the Pines Outreach Administrator Amber Dewey.
“It’s a seminal moment in the nation’s history, and those of us who do remember it, and were around, all have vivid memories of where we were when it happened,” said Cathedral Interim Executive Director Trip Anderson. “It changed the world, and certainly changed the U.S., and the way we live. We wanted to capture some of those oral histories.”
While participation was light on Friday, Anderson said the project will continue collecting testimonials in the coming weeks and during future anniversary commemorations. The sanctuary has yet to determine the final format for presenting the collected stories.
Some of the accounts are deeply personal. Anderson lost friends in the World Trade Center and was a frequent traveler on the Boston-to-Los Angeles route flown by both hijacked aircraft that hit the Twin Towers.
“It was a plane I was on a couple times a month. And by happenstance I was not traveling to the West Coast that Tuesday,” said Anderson.
Instead, he said, he was scheduled for a meeting at a production facility — a meeting that never happened, as attendees spent the morning around monitors watching live feeds, including air traffic control displays showing planes turning around mid-flight.
“As I recall, everyone sitting in that room barely said a word. We were just in shock,” said Anderson.
Cathedral of the Pines Board President Greg Walsh also shared a close connection to the day’s events. Three of his family members were in the air at the time, and his brother-in-law’s plane was diverted to Newfoundland, where he and his fellow passengers were trapped for six hours on the plane, with no idea what was happening.
That day, Walsh said, he heard the news of the first crash on talk radio while driving in northern New York. He said he thought little of it at first — remembering a prior incident in which a B-52 plane had accidentally crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945. It was not until the second plane hit that he knew something was happening, he said.
“I went to a friend’s house, and they had the TV on already,” said Walsh.
Dewey was in nursing school and watched the events unfold on televisions in the waiting and recovery areas. She said she, too, initially assumed the first crash was accidental. It was not until she saw the second plane hit, live on TV, that she realized what was happening.
“It was disorienting. It was confusing, because nothing like this had ever happened,” said Dewey. “Our view of the world was radically altered that day, that morning.”
Dewey said the recordings aim to preserve that paradigm shift for those who weren’t there to experience it.
“How many students are there at Franklin Pierce University who are under 25? Who weren’t even alive yet when this happened?” said Dewey.
“The purpose of oral histories is to capture the memories of those who witnessed it and pass it on to future generations,” agreed Anderson.
The Cathedral of the Pines is accepting appointments for residents who wish to contribute their memories to the project. Community members can schedule a recording session by contacting the Cathedral of the Pines at 603-899-3300.