One of the main functions of historians is to help the people commemorate national events, movements, battles or leaders. After reading the text and viewing the provided materials, answer the following questions: In what ways did 9/11 change the American people or culture? How should the attacks be taught to future generations (at what grade level? In how much detail)? Do you believe the memorial is appropriate and does it convey enough information to the visiting public? Should any additional items be added to the memorial?
*****Your short essay should include references to the textbook, as well as the articles included in the Lesson. If you choose to reference the material directly (quote them) be sure to include the source and page number. Your essay should be at minimum 300 words, typed.
*** TEXTBOOK: “America,A Narrative History,10th edition, by David Emory Shi, W.W. Norton Publishers (Vol. 2)” – CH 32
https://ereader.chegg.com/#/books/9780393289008/cfi/228!/4/[email protected]:0.00
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Exomkris0211
- Explore the Memorial: https://www.911memorial.org/explore-memorial-
Link: Explore the 9/11 Time Lines: https://timeline.911memorial.org/#FrontPage- Video Link: Joe and John: https://youtu.be/yfWa9gI-Bks
EXPRESSIONS OF MASS GRIEF AND MOURNING: The Material Culture of Makeshift Memorials EXPRESSIONS OF MASS GRIEF AND MOURNING: The Material Culture of Makeshift Memorials Author(s): Jeffrey L. Durbin Source: Material Culture, Vol. 35, No. 2 (FALL 2003), pp. 22-47 Published by: Pioneer America Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29764188 . Accessed: 18/05/2013 00:49 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. . Pioneer America Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Material Culture. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 138.237.48.248 on Sat, 18 May 2013 00:49:48 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=pioneeramerica http://www.jstor.org/stable/29764188?origin=JSTOR-pdf http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp EXPRESSIONS OF MASS GRIEF AND MOURNING: The Material Culture of Makeshift Memorials Jeffrey L Durbin URS Corporation Gaithersburg, Maryland. ABSTRACT The role memorials play in bringing closure to the bereaved is obvious. As society has become increasingly influenced by mass culture and the media have allowed the entire country to share in the grief resulting from tragedies, it is no longer merely those closest to the victim that have been saddened. Also, the more senseless or violent the event, the stronger the urge to comprehend it. While family members and friends are the most affected, even strangers must come to terms with these tragedies. Where the deceased's survivors rely upon grave stones to overcome their loss, strangers have had to turn to makeshift memorials as an expression of sorrow. Such monuments are temporary but they may also be characterized as unsanctioned and often appear suddenly. Unlike permanent examples, makeshift memorials leave little trace of their existence. Simultaneously, the frequency with which these expressions of grief have appeared suggests that traumatic events are having a ripple effect throughout society. This article will describe the impact of makeshift memorials on the landscape and how efforts to create them have led to more permanent monuments. The article will highlight recent examples in Atlanta, Washington, DC, and New York. The Impulse to Memorialize Much has been written about the stylistic and cultural value of memorials. The role monuments play in bringing closure to the bereaved, however, is less obvious and has received less attention. Maya Ying Lin's Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, D.C. serves as an excellent example of a monument that has helped to bind the wounds that the war 22 MATERIAL CULTURE This content downloaded from 138.237.48.248 on Sat, 18 May 2013 00:49:48 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp caused (Reel 2002; Newsweek 2002: Everett 2002). In their book Buildings of the District of Columbia, Pamela Scott and Antoinette Lee place this famous landmark in its historic and cultural context: Although most American monuments commemorate collective actions, the naming of individuals dates at least from the Civil War, when monuments that recorded lost local heroes by name were erected in numerous towns and cities. On the national level, thousands of names are inscribed on the First and Second Division Memorials erected after World War I. In all cases recognition of each person by name was subsidiary to the architectural forms, most often derived from columns, obelisks, or triumphal arches. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial differs in that the names are the primary content, but its form is as deeply embedded in ancient memorial architecture, recalling Roman tabularia and the Western [or] ("Wailing") Wall in Jerusalem (Scott and Lee 1993:105-06). Of course, the custom of building memorials is as ancient as the Egyptian obelisk. Moreover, such structures do not always signify tragedy. But even monuments commemorating a wartime victory or other advancement may also indirectly symbolize that a tremendous cost was paid in terms of human life or personal wealth (National Trust for Historic Preservation Staff 1976:186). In this country, some of the oldest monuments are to the dead of its wars, such as the obelisk located on the Gwinnett County Courthouse Square in Lawrenceville, Georgia (Figure 1). This obelisk was initially constructed in the 1830s to honor local men killed in the Creek War. Eventually this monument also included the names of two other local men who had served during the 1836 War for Texas Independence and were executed by Mexican soldiers at Goliad, Texas. In the US, countless examples of this form of extended monument exists. Another obelisk, the Sergeant Floyd Monument near Sioux City, Iowa, marks the resting place of the only fatality during the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Northwest. Because Floyd died from a ruptured appendix, this monument could be regarded as a testament to the expedition's success as much as it is a memorial to the Sergeant. So not all monuments are associated with a war or commemorate a violent event. Some signify the accomplishments of the American people or of its revered leaders. In his book Shadowed Ground: America's Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy, Kenneth Foote makes a distinction between tragic and non-tragic monuments, but this article will focus on the first type (Foote 1997). During the nineteenth century, many examples of these structures were constructed and they were often used to memorialize individuals whose remains were lost as a result of shipwrecks, fires, or other calamities. Similar to war monuments, such memorials represent a deeply human impulse to create a permanent reminder of those who have been lost, especially when the loss was partially through the sacrifice of those who died. Many times the stated purpose for erecting memorials is to inspire future generations to emulate Vol. 35 (2003) No. 1 23 This content downloaded from 138.237.48.248 on Sat, 18 May 2013 00:49:48 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp Figure 1. This 1830s obelisk in Lawrenceville, Georgia honors Gwinnett County men who were killed in the Creek War and at Goliad, Texas (all photographs by the author unless otherwise noted). a similar level of courage, honor, or altruism (National Trust for Historic Preservation Staff 1976; Danzer 1987; Foote 122, 133, 284). At the same time, the creation of monuments may also play an important role in the process of recovering from traumatic events (Foote 1997; Everett 2002; Reel 2002). Admittedly, some memorials?such as the Korean War Monument and the one to World War II veterans now under construction in Washington, D.C.?are constructed long after the event. The problem is that it may take many years to build a monument fitting for the loss suffered or the sacrifice made. Related to this difficulty is that we do not always recognize every tragedy or agree on how to interpret or commemorate such events. Thus, some memorials end up becoming very controversial (Dart 1997; Duffy 1998; 24 MATERIAL CULTURE This content downloaded from 138.237.48.248 on Sat, 18 May 2013 00:49:48 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp Cooper 1999; USA Today 2001; Forgey 2000; Bynum 2001; Reel 2002; Foote 1997).1 In both the North and the South, a common feature of cemeteries and courthouse squares is the monument to local Civil War combatants. Examples of these memorials began to appear in northern communities during the decade immediately following the war, such as the 1867 monument in Mesopotamia, Ohio. In many southern towns, however, it was forty years or more before a memorial was erected to honor the Confederate soldier, as was the case with the 1907 monument in Thomaston, Georgia. The reasons for this lag may have much to do with the economic stagnation that the region suffered following its defeat. But the delay may also be attributed to the trauma that comes with losing a war. For better or worse, many southerners could "come to grips" with their failure only through embracing the mythology surrounding the "Lost Cause" of their war for independence (West 1995; Jones 1990; Rasmussen 1997). The important thing to recognize here is that, similar to the World War II memorial in Washington, the creation of many Civil War monuments largely occurred once the veterans of the conflict on both sides began to age and succeeding generations attempted to honor those who had sacrificed their lives. That there was a delay in erecting the monuments should not be interpreted as a sign that the psyche of those who lost loved ones and friends was any less affected. There are other delays in the process of building memorials. More recently, as American tastes have increasingly become more sophisticated, the process of commissioning and designing a monument has become a lengthy and divisive one. We do not need to look very far to find examples of memorials built as the result of a complicated or methodical selection program. Americans do not let just anyone design or construct a monument. If we expect it to be permanent and to mark an especially solemn event, we want future generations to hold it with the same reverence that brought about its existence (Grossman 1984; Saiyid 2001; Forgey 2000). The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. may serve as a useful example here. Though not a controversial example by any means, this monument is sometimes singled out as being somehow mundane. In his AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, D.C., Christopher Weeks refers to architect John Russell Pope's design for the memorial as retardataire and suggests that it is so because the "heyday of the classical revival had passed" by the time it was completed in 1943 (Foote 1997; Weeks 1994).2 Popular Influences on Memorial Making At the same time the cultural elites have continued to wield a considerable amount of influence in the creation of permanent monuments, the power that popular or mass culture has exerted on public's taste and Vol. 35 (2003) No. 1 25 This content downloaded