The Twin Towers were some of the most recognizable buildings in the World Trade Center Complex as well as the New York City Skyline, before they tragically became the target of a terrorist attack in 2001. They were an iconic feature of New York City and featured in various media forms, including television shows and movies. On September 11th, 2001, the towers collapsed after being struck by planes in a terrorist attack, causing the structural integrity of the buildings to weaken and costing thousands of Americans their lives. Their collapse left a hole in the iconic New York City skyline.
After years of cleanup and recovery from that tragic day, 2002, a design contest was held to create a new building and memorial on the disaster site. The winning building was designed by Daniel Libeskind and featured plans for the tallest tower in the Western Hemisphere paired with a memorial garden area at the base of the structure. The One World Trade Center features over 100 floors and lots of glass to make the building shimmer in the sunlight. It was also constructed in a way that takes into consideration the previous disaster and has measures in place to prevent another collapse if another attack occurred. Construction began in April of 2006 and cost $3.9 billion to complete. The building was officially opened on November 3rd, 2014, and is now a common tourist attraction for those visiting the Big Apple. As shared in the Daily Mail in Catskill, New York, there was almost another incident at the tower just days after it was opened. On November 13th, 2014 at the new World Trade Center tower, two window washers were stuck dangling from the building after a cable snapped on the platform they were using. Luckily, they were rescued by Firefighters a few hours later. The World Trade Center then returned to its symbolic remembrance of just one tragedy, avoiding adding more deaths to the tragic site.
Every 90 minutes, the International Space Station completes an orbit around the earth. Astronauts from various countries occupy the International Space Station (ISS) to complete experiments that cannot be done on Earth, including research about gravity (or the lack thereof) and space technology. The very first crew to occupy the ISS arrived on November 2nd, 2000, and since then there has been a crew aboard the ISS at all times. The first crew included three members: William Shepherd (USA), Sergei Krikalev (Russia), and Yuri Gidzenko (Russia). The three astronauts traveled for just a few days to arrive at the ISS, where they were tasked with the setup of the station and making sure everything was running smoothly as they prepared for future crews to arrive. The ISS continues to orbit the earth to this day and is iconic not only for its crews living in space but also for the collaboration between different countries for greater scientific discoveries. One NASA manager was quoted in the Urbana Daily Citizen, saying this was the “beginning of a new era in human space flight”, and shared his hopes that this would lead to more international collaboration.
An iconic monument of the Midwest is the Gateway Arch in St Louis, Missouri. A competition was held in 1947 to create a monument for the area designated as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The memorial was created to commemorate Western expansion and the role of the Midwest in the history of slavery. In addition to other elements of the memorial, a monument was needed, thus they held a contest.
The winner was an architect named Eero Saarinen, who created the design of the Gateway Arch. The structure was praised as the perfect representation of Western pioneers’ spirit and historical importance. Construction of the Arch began in 1963 and was completed on October 28th, 1965. It cost less than $15 million to build and was constructed to withstand strong winds and earthquakes. Reactions from locals were those of awe and relief. The Trenton Republican Times shared reactions from a few individuals, one who said that Gateway Arch was the greatest memorial since the Eiffel Tower and another who was just glad it was finally finished. One of the more unique features of the Gateway Arch is the tram system that takes visitors to the top of the arch where they can view the St Louis Skyline. In February 2018, the memorial was rededicated as the Gateway Arch National Park to commemorate the iconic monument, while the rest of its history and purposes remain the same.
My search tip of the week was inspired by something I observed while researching for this event. If you are having trouble finding results for your search criteria, try adding a few misspellings of the words you are searching into your criteria. This is because sometimes words can be interpreted incorrectly in the system if there are inconsistencies with the text, font, or any physical features of the paper making it register differently than it appears. For example, I found that the paper I was looking at which to me clearly said “St Louis” was interpreted incorrectly as “St Loots”. This means that it wouldn’t appear in a search for St Louis, but would if I included St Loots in my search. Sometimes adding in a few misspellings as possible search criteria, you can get more results which slipped through the cracks originally!
As the United States entered the 1920s, the stock market began to grow rapidly. More and more Americans invested as the market expanded, creating a lot of attention around it. Jumping to the end of the 20s, in September and early October of 1929, the stock market had slowly begun to decline, but not yet enough to cause panic. And then a crash came.
On October 24th, 1929, panic first began to set in regarding rapidly declining stock values. On this day, over 12 million shares were traded as investors attempted to salvage what they could of their money invested in the stock market. Major banks attempted to buy up stocks to reduce the panic and stabilize the market but were unsuccessful. October 28th is when the market began to decline drastically, and the next day, October 29th, was the worst of it. A day commonly known as “Black Tuesday” is when the stock market comes crashing down completely. Over 16 million shares were traded as investors and shareholders lost billions of dollars. The Advertiser Journal in Auburn, New York, reported 14 billion in quoted values lost in the stock market and that losses were greater on October 29th than they were previously. The New York Stock Exchange was completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of people trading stocks all at the same time, as it all had to be done in person. Workers were behind as their machines couldn’t keep up, and the shareholders waiting to trade were filled with panic as they watched their investments fail. In the immediate aftermath, stock prices slowly began to increase again, if not simply because they couldn’t fall any lower. However, the crash significantly accelerated the great depression, as the stock market contributed to an unstable economy.
Perhaps the most iconic monument of all in the United States is Lady Liberty. The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of the American dream and a must-see for visitors in New York. Its historical significance runs deep and ties back to the relationship between France and the United States in their freedom fights. France wanted to create a gift for the United States to show their appreciation for their constant support. The idea one Frenchman created was a monument deeply rooted in symbolism that represented the newfound freedom and promise of the United States. Construction of the Statue of Liberty itself was done in France, and the United States was responsible for the construction of the pedestal it would stand on. After the statue was completed in July 1884, it was then broken down into 350 individual pieces to be shipped across the ocean to the United States. Upon its arrival in June 1885, it proceeded to remain in pieces until the pedestal was completed and could be reassembled. The pedestal was completed in April 1886, but the monument was not dedicated for months. Finally, on October 28th, 1886, President Grover Clevland dedicated the Statue of Liberty, establishing the timeless icon of freedom and the American dream.
As shared in The Walton Chronicle on November 4th, 1886, the eyes of the world turned to America as they unveiled their new national monument, which at the time was one of the tallest structures in the world. The Walton Chronicle wrote descriptively about the beauty of Lady Liberty and all she stands to represent. However, they didn’t refrain from poking fun at England, saying “The English are furious, but everybody laughs at them, and their emotion does not disturb the universal satisfaction.” Even in awe of beauty, we still find humor in living, and that is just another display of everything the Statue of Liberty represents.
Join me again next week to discover more of history’s hidden gems and timeless tales.
Advantage Archives works to build strong, community-based partnerships to provide free online access to local history, making it discoverable and easily accessible to anyone, anywhere, at any time, on any device. This allows communities to understand and connect to their past in a meaningful way. Through the Community History Archive search platform, we provide the community with the means to explore, discover, learn from, connect with, and share the stories of the people, places, and events that shaped their community.
The Community History Archives are intended to serve as a “portal to the past”, allowing local primary source documents to give an accounting of history as told by the individuals that witnessed it. Advantage Archives guiding principals center around building strong community-based partnerships, which is why we enter into them with the intent of shouldering our fair share, and taking the burden off of the community for the ongoing costs associated with storage, hosting, development, and maintenance of the Community’s History Archive. We are an active participant in the community’s efforts to make their collective history more accessible. The Community History Archives are maintained for free by Advantage and do not require a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or any other ongoing costs or expenses to the institution or members of the community.
If you would like to see more local history online, please contact your local library, newspaper publisher, genealogical society, historical society, or educational institution, and encourage them to learn more about creating a Community History Archive or have them contact Advantage Archives at (855) 303-2727
