September 11 Digital Archive
| Company type | Online archive |
|---|---|
| Industry | Digital archiving, History |
| Founded | January 2002 |
| Founder | Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, American Social History Project |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. , United States |
Area served | Global |
| Owner | Library of Congress |
The September 11 Digital Archive serves as an extensive online collection comprising more than 150,000 items such as photographs, videos, audio recordings, and upwards of 40,000 eyewitness narratives connected to the September 11 attacks of 2001. This archive is overseen by the Library of Congress.
History
The archive was initiated in January 2002 through a collaboration between the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University and the American Social History Project at City University of New York. Its creation was supported by a $700,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation aimed at preserving a lasting documentation of the events. In September 2003, the Library of Congress obtained a duplicate of the archive’s collection.
From 2003 until 2011, limited financial resources affected the ability to update the website and enhance metadata, leading to concerns about long-term maintenance and cybersecurity vulnerabilities during anniversary periods. Although new submissions were accepted by 2010, they were not published online due to an outdated website design last updated in 2004. Many of these issues were mitigated after receiving a grant from Save America's Treasures.
Collection
This repository encompasses a wide range of materials including photographs, emails, video clips, animations, cartoons, personal testimonies from survivors and witnesses, audio files, official documents, instant messaging transcripts, presentations, and blog entries. It contains images depicting the World Trade Center and New York City skyline prior to the attacks, alongside postcards and flyers distributed in New York streets.
The documents originate from sources such as the New York City Fire Department, National Guard, Smithsonian Institution, Red Cross, among others. The archive incorporates interviews with individuals of Middle Eastern descent who experienced backlash following the attacks and partnered with the Museum of Chinese in America to collect and translate interviews with Chinatown residents. Additionally, Arabic-language websites were examined for relevant content.
Originally aiming to gather around 1,000 narratives, by September 2002 the archive had amassed approximately 90,000 items and reached 50 gigabytes in data volume by 2003. As of 2021, it holds over 150,000 digital records including more than 40,000 firsthand accounts and nearly 15,000 images.
Contributors
Contributions are invited from survivors, eyewitnesses, international individuals, and those not physically present at the attack locations. A Spanish-language version of the archive encourages participation from Spanish-speaking communities.
Given its open submission policy, some entries may contain inaccuracies or misleading information. The archive’s FAQ notes that even such entries provide valuable emotional and personal perspectives for historical research while acknowledging difficulties in verifying their authenticity.
See also
- Canterbury Earthquakes Digital Archive, which documents New Zealand’s Canterbury earthquakes and was inspired by the September 11 Digital Archive.