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Reminiscences of Pamela Griffiths : oral history, 2003.

Creator: Griffiths, Pamela, 1943-
Project: September 11, 2001 response and recovery oral history project.
(see all project interviews)
Phys. Desc. :transcript 81 pages sound recordings 2 audio discs (120 min.) : digital ; 3 in.
Location: Columbia Center for Oral History
Full CLIO record >>

Biographical Note

Documentary Photographer/Exhibit Organizer, Voices of 9-11, Here is New York Photo Exhibition.

Scope and Contents

Born in Chicago, Illinois; education: some college; family background: mother-artist, father-psychologist; background: dyslexia, activism, civil rights and peace movements, nonprofits, documentary photography, married (David Griffiths), living in Germany and then England in sixties and seventies, consciousness of terrorism in Europe, living in New York City in 1980s, art therapist for children; September 11th: residence below Chambers Street, witnessing plane in flames, calling son, people running, panic, evacuation from building, walking uptown with neighbors; post-9/11 response: volunteer at Yaffa's restaurant feeding firemen, feeling safe and sense of community downtown versus "life as normal" uptown, backlash of nationalism and patriotism, symbolism of American flag, stench, bad air quality, refusing to take photos of disaster and suffering, gratification of volunteering, bond through humanity, terrorism, future 9/11 anniversaries, effects on family members, relation to Holocaust, opinions on World Trade Center Memorial, art therapy; Here is New York founders: Alice Rose George, Gilles Peres, Michael Shulan, Charles Traub: Here is New York photo gallery: Soho location, photo editor volunteer, volunteers, donated photographs, proceeds to Children's Aid Society 9/11, selecting and exhibiting photographs--freedom from outside and press input, expression through photography, stories behind photographs, heroism, rescue dogs, responses to photographs, gallery as gathering point, reconnecting people, crowds of vistors; Here is New York Voices 9/11 video and oral history: Ruth Sergel, video booths, computer technology, creating a safe, accessible, and comfortable space, sensitivity to privacy, legal releases, offering solace and facilitating storytelling, connecting people, hearing stories to validate own experience, corporate sponsorship, influence of media on language, alternative to mainstream media, relationship between oral history and therapy, locations--42nd Street, Shanksville, Staten Island, and the Pentagon.

Subjects

Access Conditions

Copyright by The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2006

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