By Hector Flores
Geri E. Solomon, assistant dean for special collections and a Hofstra archivist, said that the "September 11 Project Collection" sought to document Long Island's involvement in the events of 9/11. "Every generation is defined by a major historical event," she said. "After 9/11 we began documenting Long Island's participation with this generation's most historic event."
Solomon added that at least 300 Long Islanders had died on 9/11, and many more participated in the recovery efforts. "We put out a call for people for information on how they were involved in 9/11," she said. "We have created an archive of businesses and private people. We then applied for grants to begin documenting the memorials. Every town had put up a memorial, but no one knew where, exactly, they were located or how they looked."
The task of finding these memorials fell to Michael Curtis, project archivist for the September 11 Collection at Hofstra. "I tracked down over 100 memorials in Nassau and Suffolk, and some of them are still in the process of being put up," Curtis said. "We also contacted artists who were inspired by the events of 9/11."
Curtis compiled his list by searching the Web, contacting officials in every municipality on Long Island as well as parks departments, and rooting through local newspapers. "It was very much a grassroots project," he said. "Getting people to help and reaching out to them for locations. When the list was completed I handed it over to Bob [Harrison], who found more memorials on his own. Together we discovered over 150 memorials in Nassau and Suffolk county."
Armed with the list, Harrison set out to photograph every monument, but in order to find additional memorials, he had to rely on good old detective work. "The list that Michael gave me was pretty thorough," Harrison said. "But I found more memorials while I was on the road traveling. For example, in Levittown, on Gardeners Avenue, I found three sites by looking around and asking questions."
Throughout his search, Harrison found monuments in schools, churches, bars, firehouses and government buildings - the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County. But there were times when Long Island's many diverse municipalities made it difficult for him to find a memorial. "I would say that there were at least 20 additional monuments in Nassau County, because firehouses do not advertise," he said. "And 10 others under construction" - including at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, Huntington, Lindenhurst and Farmingdale University.
But most important, Harrison said, he discovered his own connection to 9/11. "I didn't know anyone involved in 9/11," he said. "But in doing this, I found a young firefighter [Keith G. Fairben] in Floral Park who died, and I knew his grandfather. I found an emotional attachment to this event.
"This project and my journey made me realize that every Long Islander - whether they realize it or not - is connected to that tragic day. Everybody knew someone with a connection, a friend of a friend or a schoolmate. We are all connected by that day."
Harrison shot more than 800 photos for the September 11 Project Collection, which will be on display at the Emily Lowe Gallery at the Hofstra Museum until Dec. 10.
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
