Shortly after terrorists crashed hijacked airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the military base near Washington, D.C., where Susan Cusic works was locked down. Unable to make telephone calls, an urgent series of e-mails became a lifeline between Cusic and sister-in-law Deborah P. Dement.
Cusic:
"Debbie - Please answer. Can you get this email. I cant get any phone
calls out. And Cell Phones are not working here on base."
David Cisan submitted this photo to the digital archive.
(Sept. 11 Digital Archive)
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| | | | | | |  | | | | | | • | Remembering 9/11 - Gallery captures moments at memorial events in New York, Washington, Shanksville and around the world. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | • | From Ruins to Restoration - Video montage of the Pentagon from the attacks to the rebuilding of the outer ring. | | | | | | | | | | | | • | The Human Toll - List of those lost in New York, the Washington area and Pennsylvania. | | | | | | | | | | | | • | Remembering - A tribute to the 184 Pentagon victims illustrated by the things they loved. | | | | | | | | | | | | • | Special Memorial Section - Index page of articles, multimedia, events and discussions. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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Dement:
"Sue Hi I picked the kids up from school whats wrong?"
Cusic:
"No one is allowed on or off base at the moment. We've been told that
they have confirmed the attacks are terriost attacks. Our phone lines
have been shut down. I can't get any calls out and I've been trying my
cell phone and that doesn't work at the moment. It could be that
everyone on base is trying to use there Cell Phone.
Could you call JH, Mom & Leroy and let them know that I am fine. But I
cant get a call out to them. Everyone is scared!!!! And at the moment we
are not allowed to leave. We have aircraft flying around our building
and others. I hope it is our people securing our base."
Dement:
"Sue I am talking to your mom now do you want us to get the kids? I need
JH's number Hang in there sweetie. It's going to be o.k."
(Unedited transcript*)
Countless digital conversations like the one between these Clements, Md.,
women took place that unforgettable day. In fact, 57.1 percent of e-mail users -- more than 100 million Americans -- sent or received e-mails expressing support, grief or shock on Sept. 11 and the days immediately following, according to a report by the UCLA Internet Project.
But if those electronic communications aren't permanently archived soon, historians fear they could lose incredible insight into the nation's immediate reactions to a major historical event.
"There is a tremendous risk that a substantial amount of this information will be lost," said Peter Stearns, provost of George Mason University and editor of the Journal of Social History. "A portion has certainly already disappeared as e-mail messages and other digital records are purged from computer hard disks. The historical record of Sept. 11 is in danger of being obscured as time softens our memories."
In a bid to gather the digital record of Sept. 11, 2001, a group of historians from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., and the City University of New York have banded together, moonlighting as software programmers to create the September 11 Digital Archive -- a home for e-mail conversations like the one between Cusic and Dement, as well as a host of other digital records.
