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WVU Professor’s 9/11 Experience Preserved at the WVRHC

Posted by Jane Metters LaBarbara.
September 8th, 2021

Blog post by Lori Hostuttler, Assistant Director, WVRHC

Saturday marks the 20^th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It will be a day of remembrance to honor the 2977 immediate victims of the attacks, those who died later, and their families who lost so much. The events of 9/11 are painful memories, but remembrance is important. Many people have their own 9/11 story. The West Virginia and Regional History Center (WVRHC) is now preserving an extraordinary one.

Front page of Dominion Post newspaper with headline "9-11 survivors to return to NYC" — *Photograph of the September 7, 2002, Dominion Post newspaper, Morgantown. Dr. Witt is featured on the cover. From the* *Tom S. Witt September 11 Collection, A&M 4514*.

WVU Economics Professor Tom Witt was in New York for an academic conference on 9/11/2001. The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) was being held in the Marriot Hotel at 3 World Trade Center located in between the Twin Towers. Witt and his wife, Grethe, were at ground zero during the attacks and narrowly escaped. Their experience has been recounted in local media over the years and now an archival collection documenting it is part of the holdings of the WVRHC. The Tom S. Witt September 11 Collection contains some of Witt’s recovered personal belongings, local and national newspapers with 9/11 content, as well as a number of books in which his story is told. The collection is available for research at the History Center. It will be preserved in perpetuity.

Photographs of selected items from the collection:

Letter from Police officer Richard Conte regarding the return of some of Dr. Witt's belongings found in the rubble of the World Trade Center — *A letter from New York City Police Officer Richard Conte returning some of Witt’s belongings.*

A Palm Pilot in a case; it has been crushed — *Dr. Witt’s crushed Palm Pilot (a small handheld computer) recovered in the debris.*

Piece of paper and conference name badge for Tom S. Witt — *Dr. Witt’s NABE conference name badge and meeting documents.*

Conference bag from NABE conference in New York, Sept. 2001 — *Dr. Witt’s NABE conference bag.*

Typed sheet of paper with Tom Witt's recollections of being in NYC on Sept. 11, 2001 — *Typed recollections of the day by Tom Witt.*

Typed sheet of paper with Grethe Myles' recollections of being in NYC on Sept. 11, 2001 — *Typed recollections of the day by Tom Witt’s wife, Grethe Myles.*

Twenty years later, 9/11 is a day that lives vividly in the memory of many who lived through it. A younger generation has grown up seeing the tragic footage and learning about the events and the aftermath. As strange it seems now, there will come a time when the events of 9/11 are not so close to the hearts and minds of Mountaineers and the American people. Witt’s collection at the WVRHC captures the horror of the day and the resilience of a 9/11 survivor for those future researchers.

White rose placed in a name on the plaque along the border of a reflecting pool at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum — *Photograph of a white rose placed in a name along the border of a reflecting pool at the* *National 9/11 Memorial and Museum* *in New York City, July 2021. Photo by the author.*

Notes:

In this 2016 MetroNews article, Dr. Witt details his experience. The article also includes audio of his interview with WV Public Broadcasting while the events unfolded on September 11, 2001.

In 2011, WVU Today interviewed Dr. Witt and remembered WVU alumni Chris Gray and Jim Samuels, who were killed in the attack.

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WVU Professor’s 9/11 Experience Preserved at the WVRHC

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