As reported in annarbor.com though the story originally broke here in the Eastern Echo. Here’s a quote from the Echo:
An artifact from the 9/11 tragedy has found a new home at Eastern Michigan University after the university was selected by the New York Port Authority, according to officials.
The 14-foot building column, which weighs almost 6,800 pounds, was a part of the World Trade Center and came into EMU’s possession Wednesday morning.
and…
Walter Kraft, VP of Communications and Public Affairs, said the university has plans for the column, but the details have yet to be finalized.
“As far as what we’re going to do with it, we haven’t quite nailed all of that down,” Kraft said. “We are going to do some type of memorial.”
Donegan said the column will be placed in front of the Halle Library.
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this personally, so I thought I’d try out a poll to see what folks here think. I believe the voting is limited to 200, so vote early (though only once– you should be prevented from voting multiple times). And, of course, if you have comments, comment away.
From the way the possible responses are written it is easy to see Sitedad’s opinion…Number 3? I guess all war memorials should only exist where the deaths took place. BTW – One of the last “fleet boat” WWII submarines (“USS Silversides” – Pacific theatre) is floating in Muskegon. I guess that is inappropriate as well.
No, I honestly have mixed feelings about all this. I read in one of the accounts that EMU kind of won a “lottery” for materials from the WTC for a memorial, so if it is an honor to have something, maybe that’s appropriate. I’m not crazy personally about the “in front of Halle” library location, but maybe that’s just me. And I can also see why people might not want to spend any money on this given the finances and also given that it isn’t like we were that local.
Oh, and while I haven’t seen this, I’m not sure if it is the sort of thing that would make for a good memorial. From what I’ve read, it sounds like it is a steel girder.
That is exactly what it is. It is a large (maybe ~15-20 ft long) steel girder with what kind of looks like maybe a slightly twisted end.
I think it would make sense if it can make an EMU connection. If there were alumni who lost their lives, and their names could be on the memorial, then I would get it. I mean, did EMU throw the hat into the ring to try and get a shuttle from NASA? This seems like a, “hey, look what we have” type of a thing, and not really sincere.
I understand the point about the WWII sub, but I think that those types of memorials are a little different because you can actually learn some history from exploring it, unlike a steel beam. There isn’t anything gained from putting a steel beam on campus that couldn’t be gained by NOT putting a steel beam on campus…..other than the “look what we’ve got factor”. And that just seems cheap.
Interesting poll…except I wish I could have voted for two, the last two choices. We are looking at sky is falling budget scenarios, people getting laid off, and buildings lacking ADA compliant features.
Unless someone else is paying for transport and install..but I would still agree a historic piece like that is best served closer to NYC.
I think John Donegan’s comment in the Echo article speaks to the issue of the appropriateness of a 9-11 memorial 650 miles from New York. He also touches on the notion that not all people will have the same reaction to the steel beam:
“There’s some folks that have differing opinions on [the artifact]; putting [the column] on campus in a permanent way will create a lot of controversy, but it will also add to the fabric of our campus by getting people to talk about situations like that which occurred on 9/11,” he said.
The Holocaust happened in Europe, but there are Holocaust memorials and museums throughout the world. One of my sons recently visited the one in Farmington with a friend, and it certainly got them “to talk about situations like that which occurred….”
Here’s a link to today’s article in annarbor.com that includes a picture:
http://www.annarbor.com/news/eastern-michigan-university-official-hope-to-have-911-memorial-ready-by-sept-10/
I’m a student at EMU, probably one of few that actually visit this site. I would just like to remind everyone that the people you are teaching at EMU were in elemenetary school on 9/11/2001. We have grown up in the post-9/11 era.
I have also been one of the few lucky people to see this artifact in person. I can tell you that it is a simple artifact and whether you are in New York or Alaska, you have a connection to it. When I saw it I immediately remembered where I was that day, my parents crying and my entire hometown being silent.
The economy is in rough shape, EMU’s budget isn’t any better, but trust me when I say that this steel beam and the memorial that goes with it means more than any of that. I’m pretty confident that the students are going to rally behind this. It defines what we have known for most of our lives…
As another student, I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment, you are looking at the better part of the last half of my life, the part that I remember the best, and this is the biggest event in it even for young people who grew up in Michigan.
I happen to have a long standing professional interest in memorials, as an American historian with a keen interest in public history. I have traveled long distances to view many memorials and read much of the large amount of scholarship on public memorials to war and horrific historical events. It’s a vital question – why do some memorials “work” and others fail at motivating reflection, feelings and thoughts for many years?
And one thing is very clear to me: Memorials that are effective and evoke deep feelings for viewers over many years — not just one moment soon after the event they memorialize — are carefully planned and created. They are not “rush jobs.” They are carefully sited — which means locating them with broad public participation in the decisions, as well as serious knowledge of how that space is already used, and carefully assessing if the memorial’s purpose is compatible with the current use of the space.
Countless rush job memorials have been created, and quickly became commonly ignored, or ultimately dismantled. Many are controversial, or widely ridiculed; and even more become totally irrelevant — having no meaning to most people who see them. That’s the worst – to make a memorial that’s irrelevant to the people it is meant to convey meaning to.
It may be useful to consider whether a memorial created between now and Sept. 11, 2011, can be anything but a rush. Also, do the decision makers really grasp how the space in front of Halle is now used, and are those uses compatible with a memorial to 9/11?
It is true that many of our students were children when 9/11 happened. As we are also located relatively far from the sites of the attacks, it may be the case that many students’ memories are filtered, both by distance and by their young age (and their parents) when the attacks occurred. Yes, they grew up in the post-9/11 era but the specific events (and graphic coverage, and personal connections) of that day may not be crystal clear for many who were only 7 or 8 at the time. Most parents – and I’m one of them – did what they could to shield their young children from some of the most searing images, stories, and details.
But some of us – students, staff, whoever – have suffered personal losses related to 9/11, and many others were old enough (or didn’t have parents who filtered the news coverage) to have very sharp, almost visceral, memories of that day. Some of us had/have very hard times coming to terms with what happened that day.
Speaking only for myself, I know that I will absolutely and completely _dread_ going to the library if, every time I am near there, I have to cope with the anguish that this memorial will bring me. In fact, I will probably do all that I can to avoid that part of campus, including not scheduling class sessions there. That may sound weird to some but really, I can’t imagine having all of those horrible emotions dredged up, and then 2 or 3 minutes later, needing to coherently teach a class in the library. Nor can I imagine being able to (or desiring to) just ignore the memorial, or the history that comes with it. Memorials to powerful events need to give the viewers space and opportunity to contemplate and grapple with the meaning – not just thrust themselves on someone in a casual way. And that’s what it sounds like may happen here. Horrible, even cruel.
I hope that the EMU powers that be will reconsider their current plans, which so far strike me as being along the lines of “hey, look what we got!” rather than a serious and sober and sensitive memorial, appropriately located, to a horrific event that resulted in thousands of people being killed.
well said, Licorice. If a memorial for 9/11 is put in front of Halle, I’d expect that, from what I’ve studied about other memorials and their locations, it’d become either ignored over time, or trivialized. And you speak, I am sure, for a good many EMU community members who would react deeply to this girder being in front of them on a daily basis.
There is no hard & fast rule but it’s generally true that the best, most effective memorials are cited at a place that is not routinely walked by, in the course of a normal day. Think of a graveyard: They are memorials to the lives of the people buried there. And people living go there for specific reasons involving the graves — not because the graveyard is on their route to class, work, or the library. This point is all the more true for a memorial that entails an artifact from the World Trade Center.
And dear “Student” – I think lots of EMU students read this blog. Still, your comments are sound. Clearly, nobody is arguing against this memorial (least not that I’ve seen), but memorials are complex issues. It’s surprising indeed as an EMU community member to read in the press that the project is underway and has been for months, as opposed to hearing about it as a member of the EMU community.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-field-exhibit-to-mark-911-attacks-20110809,0,2226739.story
EMU not the only one in the midwest to get a hunk of steel.
Maybe what would make the most sense would be to figure out a way to temporarily display this by the time the September 11 anniversary rolls around and then figure out a more permanent display a little later. That would avoid the problems of the “hasty memorial” that Mark talks about, and I have to say that I personally am not all that crazy about this being right next to the library either.
I’m not completely sure how it is that EMU came to have this piece of World Trade Center, but as I understand it, there was kind of a lottery process where different museums, towns, and institutions more or less put their names in as interested in having a piece and EMU won. So maybe one way to make this a way to connect with the community beyond EMU.
For example, maybe instead of thinking this as just something on campus it’s something tied to Southeast Michigan and/or the area more generally. Maybe that memorial could be physically located on campus someplace, but in a place that would be inviting to people who don’t have anything to do with EMU. And maybe it becomes a memorial to people from Michigan or SE Michigan who died on 9/11 instead of an EMU alone thing.
Agreed!!!
There was a nice interview with President Martin with Michael Patrick Shiels on his Lansing area radio program. This spells out some nice details. President Martin wrote the Port Authority more than a year ago, and we heard we would get something only this spring. John Donegan picked it up only last week, returning to campus Friday, Aug. 5. We did not know we’d get such a large and significant piece. http://www.fox47news.com/multimedia/videos/?bctid=1099190812001
My understanding is that we did not know what kind of piece or artifact we would get until we actually picked it up last week.
If it’s true that EMU didn’t even know what they were getting until last week, then isn’t really a tad premature for the administration to say that they know exactly what it is they want to do with it?
Geoff, can you provide any clarity on whether anybody in the upper administration is paying attention to this discussion here? I am truly concerned about the (probably unintentionally) callous nature of displaying such a significant and emotionally fraught item right across from the library where it will be an unavoidable presence. There are a lot of folks who have very rough memories of 9/11 and won’t want to be accosted on a daily basis by this memorial in the heart of the campus while trying to work and study and just deal with their daily lives. I’m not saying we should not have a memorial at all but I really hope somebody is listening here. The potential to inflict suffering is real.
What’s clear is that knowledge of EMU’s getting a piece of the WTC for a memorial was kept from all but a very, very small circle of the campus community; that those in that very small circle are very confident in what they are doing & have decided to do; and that that very small circle has very limited knowledge of the real EMU community. No doubt, not a one of them knows the venue of most controversial protests on this campus, or anything about how (and where!) EMU students responded to the terrorists attacks on the day of the attacks.
Probably the administration should just do what it wants in creating the memorial. Then, if there’s enough protest or unrest about it on campus, they can take it down and re-do it later.
Apparently they’ve decided the most important factor is to GET SOMETHING DONE, NOW and are not terribly concerned about whether it’s actually a good memorial that will serve its intended purpose. Or whether it’s in an appropriate location.
Why didn’t someone in admin think of the idea of a temporary memorial for the 10th anniversary, then a year’s planning for a permanent one? Maybe it’s because they’re not real big on inclusion and listening to people.
Here’s a kind of cryptic message about the upcoming memorial from Geoff Larcom:
Al Qaeda’s attack on 9/11/2001 was an attack on America. I’m glad to have a memorial on EMU campus. Get something up fast for 9/11/11, then do it right sounds like a good plan to me. Never forget.
As far as a location in front of Halle goes, depends on what it’s going to look like. I would have a very very hard time with the Mall’s VietNam War Memorial being there, but I am very glad of the statue on Jefferson in Detroit (both honoring a great musicologist but mostly memorializing the 1915 genocide of the Armenians.
Sorry about assorted errors in previous comment (small touchscreen), but I need to specify the statue is of Komitas. LOVE the Spirit of Detroit, Joe Louis fist, Komitas, and the other art and architecture of Detroit.