America Responds PBS created this website immediately following the 9/11 attacks and now maintains it as an archive of related resources, analysis, and discussion. The site also offers very useful links to PBS content on a wide variety of 9/11 topics and themes. Users will find episodes of Frontline and other TV programs, relevant transcripts from Washington Week, first-person accounts, resources for parents, and lesson plans for teachers.

Newseum: “Today’s Front Pages” On its website, the Newseum, which describes itself as “Washington, D.C.’s most interactive museum,” presents newspapers’ front pages in their original, unedited form. These pages from September 12, 2001, represent 147 papers from 19 countries. The ability to compare coverage across geographic boundaries makes this resource a perfect choice for media literacy studies.

September 11: Bearing Witness to History The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History began collecting artifacts and stories right after September 11 that include physical objects (pieces of a plane, melted coins, etc.), images, and audio recordings—many of the curators’ recollections of acquiring and working with the materials. The collection, a work in progress, will continue to grow as more is learned about the events of 9/11. Visitors are invited to share their own “Bearing Witness” stories, which are archived on a site maintained by the September 11 Digital Archive (http://911digitalarchive.org/ smithsonian/).

The September 11 Digital Archive The September 11 Digital Archive, a project of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University and the American Social History Project at the City University of New York Graduate Center, uses electronic media to collect, preserve, and present the history of September 11 and its aftermath. In addition to the Smithsonian’s “Bearing Witness” stories and other personal narratives, the collection includes email messages, digital images, videos, and sound materials. The archive was accepted into the Library of Congress in 2003, marking the library’s first major digital acquisition.

The September 11, 2001 Documentary Project The day after the September 11 attacks, the American Folklife Center issued a public call to ethnographers and folklorists to collect, record, and document America’s responses to the tragedies. This Library of Congress American Memory collection contains a sampling of the materials that were amassed, including sound and video interviews, photographs, drawings, news clippings, written narratives, emails, and other artifacts. As with other American Memory collections, this one offers support materials for teachers. The main American Memory site also provides teaching guides for a broad range of primary sources, as well as an analysis tool for students.

September 11: A Memorial This site is CNN’s memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks. It lists those who died (based on records compiled by Legacy.com) and includes information from CNN reports, obituaries, and materials submitted by friends and family. In addition to shining some light on individual’s stories, the educational value of this site lies in discussions with students about information that’s missing or incomplete. Why would family members choose or not choose to share information about their loved ones in such a place? The site was archived in 2004, and now many of the photos are broken images. How does that “look” affect the impact of the site?

9/11 Memorial: Teach + Learn "The National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center may not exist yet, but its website boasts some excellent teaching materials and primary sources. The embedded video and audio on the interactive time line brings us voices from the hijacked airplanes and from observers on the ground. This website is one of the few resources to address young children’s needs (Talking to Your Children About 9/11). An ongoing webinar series keeps up with 9/11-related events, such as the death of Osama bin Laden.

The 9/11 Commission Report The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9/11 Commission) was charged with preparing a full account of the circumstances surrounding the tragedies, including preparedness for and response to the attacks, and recommendations to guard against future attacks. As government publications go, sections of this one make for a fairly compelling read. A graphic novel of the report, such as Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón’s The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation (Hill and Wang, 2006), might be just the ticket for making the events more real for young adults.