SELECTIONS FROM BOSTON UNIVERSITY PHOTO SERVICES ARCHIVE

Albert B. L'Étoile
Document of Walsh Wall of Remembrance

STUDENT AFFAIRS, Negative # 01-2998, A-4, A-6, B-2
3 C prints
15 ˝ x 15 ˝ inches and September 24, 2001


Vigil and Wall of Remembrance

STUDENTS AFFAIRS, Negative # 01-2925, A-18
C print 11 x 14 inches
September 26, 2001
Courtesy Boston University Photo Services

Remembering
Remembering the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, PA, a Wall of Remembrance was constructed on September 14th at Boston University's Marsh Plaza. The wood framed, homosote-paneled wall measured 8 feet high and approximately 35 feet long. It remained there until the end of the fall semester.

The entire community was invited to use the wall as a form of expression. People of all ages and walks of life, including myself, responded. Within a day, the blank wall was transformed into a memorial in every sense of the word. I visited or passed by it almost daily. In the first few days alone, hundreds of people stooped to write on the memorial.

In prose, poetry, and musical lyrics, people remembered the dead and injured, offered prayers, and exposed bewilderment. Some expressed their anger with words. Others tacked cards, letters, and photographs of loved ones to the memorial. Many tears were placed there too. Generally, those who added to the memorial remained there afterward to read and then reflect upon the words of those who had come before them.

Over the course of three months, thousands of people visited the memorial. On more than one night, as I walked through the plaza, I saw people standing and sitting before the memorial keeping a vigil there. While some approached the memorial bearing candles, others came to place flowers at its base. Some people came alone, others came as a group. During the weekends, entire families happened upon the memorial as they passed through the plaza on their way to recreation along the Charles River. Parents tried to explain to their children what was impossible for adults to make sense of.

Our society erects memorials so that we will not forget something significant. Some memorials help us, sometimes force us, to remember painful events. This memorial was a painful one. It caused me to recall two BU alumni that I had photographed. For me, the partially burned, prematurely extinguished candles at the base of the memorial symbolized their lives being cut short, snuffed out. Then there were the glass-encased candles that, after being knocked over by the wind, broke open and spilled their contents on the ground. Knowing the way these lives had ended, could there be a more poignant symbol for them?

Albert B. L'Étoile, Jr., Ed.M (BU, SED, '93)

 

Kalman Zabarsky

  • Student Vigil at Wall of Remembrance, STUDENT AFFAIRS, Negative # 01-2924, C-20
  • Trees, Towers, and Tributes (Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial), CAMPUS, Negative # 01-3015, A-6
  • Prayer Vigil for Terrorist Victims, STUDENT ACTIVITIES, Negative # 01-2899, G-25

C prints
11 x 14 inches
September, 2001
Courtesy Boston University Photo Services

Sarah Zenewicz

  • Chaplain's Peace Procession at Marsh Plaza
  • UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS, Negative # 01-2980, B-30

C print
11 x 14 inches
September 20, 2001
Courtesy Boston University Photo Services

These are selections from Boston University Photo Services' vast archive of campus reactions to September 11th. The entire Wall of Remembrance was documented inch by inch as well as students witnessing the tragedy on television and the resulting vigils, memorial gatherings, and peace processions. BU lost 30 alumni, staff members, parents, and friends that day. The Photographic Resource Center dedicates this gallery wall to those lost and the entire University community. You can visit a tribute to those lost at www.bu.edu/remember.