The attacks of September 11, 2001 on the Pentagon, aboard United Airlines Flight 93, and upon the World Trade Center are now twenty years ago. Many New York City College of Technology (CUNY) faculty and staff working in Academic Year 2021-22 were on campus that day and remember vividly the sight of the burning Twin Towers across the harbor, the debris floating in the wind, and the thousands of people walking across the Brooklyn Bridge soon making their way home, tired and fearful of what might come next. We believe that anyone looking for an introduction to the events of 9/11 will find this LibGuide helpful. However it is geared for, and dedicated to, students too young to remember the events of that fateful day two decades ago.
The scholarship on the September 2001 attacks is vast, broad, and continually growing. These resources include eyewitness remembrances, Congressional testimony, histories and biographies, documentary films, essays, facts-on-the-ground journalism, and other materials. We have tried to simplify this introduction. The books are a cross-section of work from across the decades. While some sources from the early 2000s may appear dated, they offer a perspective capturing the immediacy of that period just after the attacks. The newer titles offer more nuanced interpretations now available only through hindsight. For films we selected three titles produced especially for the twentieth anniversary. Please note that there are many other television and film documentaries and we encourage interested persons to investigate further. The 9/11 Commission Report is an invaluable resource. There is no substitute however for visiting Ground Zero itself. Visitors to Lower Manhattan can experience the site on their own, perhaps contemplating in the solitude of the reflecting pools. We encourage everyone to visit the National September 11 Memorial and Museum itself to see the exhibits and experience the resources the museum's staff has gathered and interpreted over these past two decades since the events of that historic day.