Remembering 9/11

By Alexander Haimann, Collections Specialist

The National Postal Museum remembers and honors the people employed in the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon, the emergency responders, airline passengers and others from all walks of life who were killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

In 2002, Congress directed the Smithsonian Institution in Public Law 107-117 to "collect and preserve...artifacts relating to the September 11th attacks." A number of postal related artifacts connected to the attacks are in the National Postal Museum’s permanent collection in order to preserve the memory of the victims and that devastating attack on the American homeland.

Due to the heroic efforts of the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, the airplane was diverted from its intended target and crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2001. Shown above is a portion of a U.S. Mail carton recovered from the debris of United Airlines Flight 93.

Learn more about the Postal Museum's collection of artifacts related to the September 11, 2001 attacks by going to: Collecting and Exhibiting a National Tragedy

About the Author
Alexander T. Haimann, Collections Specialist & Web Projects Developer at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, collects and writes primarily about the stamps and postal history of the U.S. during the first one hundred years of stamp production (1847-1947). Additionally, he develops internet based education projects and exhibits for the National Postal Museum. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Stamp Dealers Association, the Chair of the American Philatelic Society’s Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship and the publicist for the United State Philatelic Classics Society. His national and international society memberships include the American Philatelic Society, United States Stamp Society, Collectors Club of New York and the Royal Philatelic Society London.