One Year Later: Every Story Counts

This week will mark a year since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon rocked America's world. Undoubtedly, you've already been bombarded by the media's frenzy over the nation's recollections and reflections of the event - hearing about how children have lived without a parent who was killed by the attacks, how New York City firefighters have replenished their ranks, or how President Bush and his agents did or did not recognize the possibility of these attacks in advance.

Why exactly is the media spending so much time and effort following and reporting these personal or in-depth stories? Perhaps they feel obliged by the magnitude of the event's impact on our lives, but more importantly, these stories serve to record, preserve and encourage us to care about a significant piece of our 21st Century history.

But the news media can only capture a thin slice of the nation's memories, thoughts and feelings about the September 11 event and how life for America changed or didn't change afterward. So in this week's lesson, you'll visit a couple of websites to help you think about and create a record of your own stories and memories on how the terrorist attacks affected your life and those of other people around you.

Start this week's lesson by visiting the Facing History and Ourselves September 11 site. Read through the six different sections listed on this page: Writing and Remembering, More than a Building, Deepening the Discussion, Us and Them, Civil Liberties, and The Power of Hatred. As you read through these themes, what thoughts and feelings do you have about each of the stories, viewpoints or philosophies? Do any of the topics ring of special significance to relationships or events in your own life, especially after the terrorist attacks? How might the experiences of other people directly or indirectly affect you personally and the nation overall?

Make notes about any of these ideas for later reference, or start writing down some of your own stories or draw pictures that focus on one or more of these specific themes. You may also want to try writing a story from someone else's perspective. For example, how might your life after September 11 have been different if you were of a different racial ancestry or practiced a different religion? What would it have been like if you lived closer or farther away from the bombing sites?

No matter how big an event somewhere else might be, nothing affects us more directly than what happens around us in our own homes, neighborhoods and towns. So to think more about how you can research, record and preserve these more personal stories, visit My History Is America's History website. Begin by reviewing the Guidebook, either on the web or by downloading the PDF version. Read the sections on 15 Things You Can Do to Save America's Stories, How to Do an Interview, and Saving Your Family Treasures.

Have you collected any photos, news articles or objects since the September 11 events? This can include things like photos from a family reunion that perhaps were especially important after the attacks, or journal entries or poems you've written, or maybe a small American flag you received and have kept in a special place. Whether you currently are keeping safe such treasures or not, ask family members or others in your household, school or larger community about similar memorabilia they have collected. What is the significance of their stories or treasures?

Also, interview a person or two about their own personal memories or stories related to last year's attacks or experiences since then. Think or write about your own story as a stand-alone reflection, but also consider writing or keeping it in the context of the history of your family's ancestry or community history. Consider collecting and preserving these stories, images and objects in a scrapbook or memory box for future reflection for yourself and posterity. If you do, make sure to review the Saving Your Family Treasures section for tips on how to preserve those items.