by David Emery

Folklorists document 'shared narrative' of NY tragedy
09/27/01: I wanted to step away from the onslaught of rumors and hoaxes pertaining to the September 11 terrorist attacks for a moment and shine a light on the important work being done by fieldworkers of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, who are roaming the streets of New York City with microphones to document the impact of the tragic destruction of the World Trade Center on the lives of ordinary citizens. The same thing was done by folklorists after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Like those vivid recordings of 60 years ago, the "personal experience narratives" interviewers are capturing in present-day New York will be archived in a permanent collection allowing future generations to review this catastrophic moment in American history from a "person on the street" perspective, complete with ambient noise.  "All of it is worthy of storage," folklorist Ann Hoog told the Baltimore Sun earlier this week. Worthy indeed. AFC administrators say the project is expected to go on indefinitely.

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