By JAMES HARDIN
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress has called upon folklorists across the nation to document on audiotape the thoughts and feelings expressed by average citizens following the tragic events of Sept. 11. These recordings and supporting documentary materials will become part of the Center's Archive of Folk Culture, the largest and most important archive devoted to the folklore and traditional culture of Americans and of the many cultural groups from around the world.
![A memorial tribute placed on a slope overlooking the site where a hijacked plane crashed into one side of the Pentagon on Sept. 11.](images/afc_1.jpg)
A memorial tribute placed on a slope overlooking the site where a hijacked plane crashed into one side of the Pentagon on Sept. 11. - David A. Taylor
With the September 11, 2001, Documentary Project, the American Folklife Center is building upon a unique precedent. On Dec. 8, 1941, renowned folklorist Alan Lomax, who was serving as the head of the Folk Archive, sent an urgent message to folklorists around the United States to collect "person on the street" reactions to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war by the United States. Recordings were made in all parts of the country in which people expressed their immediate reactions to this cataclysmic event. Interviews were conducted with shoemakers, electricians, janitors, oilmen, cab drivers, housewives, students, soldiers and physicians.
People of many ethnic groups and ages are represented in these interviews expressing their opinions on the political, social, economic and military aspects of the Pearl Harbor attack. These field recordings were sent to the Library of Congress, where they were used to create a radio documentary program that was broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting System. It was part of a series of radio programs that were then distributed to schools and radio stations. This collection is still used today by researchers and radio producers.
Sixty years later, in this time of national crisis and mourning, the American Folklife Center has issued a similar call to the folklore community to help create the September 11, 2001, Documentary Project. The project was suggested by reference specialist Ann Hoog, who noted the comparisons being made in media reports to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Peggy Bulger, director of the American Folklife Center and president of the American Folklore Society, agreed the idea was both worthy and appropriate, and e-mailed folklorists around the country to "document the immediate reactions of average Americans in your own communities to yesterday's terrorist attack and to what many have called an act of war."
![This memorial to a woman killed on American Airlines Flight 77 is among hundreds of shrines appearing near the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.](images/afc_2.jpg)
This memorial to a woman killed on American Airlines Flight 77 is among hundreds of shrines appearing near the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. - David A. Taylor
In Baltimore, folklorist Rory Turner, program director for the Maryland State Arts Council, has already heeded the call. At a Chinese food and barbecue stand in the city, for example, Mr. Turner spoke to Douglas H. Strachan, pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, who said, "You can't let your hatred for one nation and one people destroy your belief in humanity."
The center will collect and preserve the audiotaped interviews and supporting materials that present the personal experience stories of average Americans in the wake of the terrorist attack. What were they doing when they heard? How have their lives been changed? In addition, the center will collect photographic documentation of the memorial tributes that have sprung up near the Pentagon and at the site of the World Trade Center disaster. These temporary memorials include posters, photographs, flowers, flags and other memorabilia through which those connected to the disaster victims and others express their grief and sympathy.
Audio field recordings are invaluable elements of our historical record, Ms. Bulger says. And storytelling and other forms of expression help people to manage their feelings: "It often is cathartic to tell stories [about] where you were when you heard about the attacks." While the Folklife Center is also accepting some of the more poignant of the countless e-mail accounts in circulation, "nothing replaces the recorded voice," said Ms. Hoog. "When you listen to those voices from 1941, along with the street noises in the background, you are better able to imagine the whole context of that particular time and place."
Mr. Hardin is a writer-editor in the American Folklife Center.