8:46AM on Tuesday, September 11th, the lives of every single American changed. For the first time in several generations, America was under attack by outside sources.
9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon, Pentagon City, Virginia Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
This would become a new generation’s Kennedy Assassination. An event where almost every American alive on that day, knew exactly where they were and what they were doing. Over 3,000 people perished in the attacks that hit the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Many first responders and clean-up workers were affected by elements in the debris, which led to various illnesses. The way we conducted our lives, the way we worked, the ways we viewed our neighbors, and the ways we travelled were changed forever. Twenty years have passed, but those who lost their lives in the attacks and in the wars that followed will never be forgotten.
Fire officer Brenda Berkman was one of the many first responders during 9/11. Thirteen years later, she’s become an artist specializing in stone lithography. Much of her work depicts the evolving cityscape of Downtown Manhattan. From: CROWNING NEW YORK
Two months after the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government created the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA. All the laws and protocols governing U.S. flight safety were about to change forever. From the Series: Air Disasters: The Pentagon Attack
Photojournalist John Harrington talks about the rare Pentagon photographs that he donated to the Smithsonian. From the series 9:11 – Stories in Fragments
City of Portland officials along with the Portland Fire Department and the Portland Police Department will join on Saturday, September 11, 2021 for a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial at Fort Allen Park. Fire Chief Keith Gautreau and Police Chief Frank Clark will participate in a wreath laying ceremony followed by a moment of silence at 8:46 AM to mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. September 11, 2021 at 8:30 AM, Fort Allen Park, Eastern Promenade, Portland.
Mass Commemorating 20th Anniversary of the Tragic Events of 9/11 in Portland. A special Mass remembering, honoring, and praying for the victims and loved ones of September 11, 2001, will be held on Saturday, September 11, at 8 a.m. at St. Peter Church on 72 Federal Street in Portland. Those gathered will also pray for peace and protection for first responders. All are welcome to attend.
Memorial photograph wall of people killed at the World Trade Center Memorial and Museum in downtown Manhattan (borough) in New York City, built on the site of the terrorist attack that brought down the World Trade Center’s “Twin Towers” on what has become known simply as “9/11” – September 11, 2001
Printed in Portland is an exhibit in the Portland Room that accentuates our city’s printing presses through our Library Special Collections.
Featured examples are printed and bound items, photographs, billheads, and tools that were used in the local trade.
Portland’s Exchange Street and Middle Street (both in what is known today as the Old Port) were the locations of the city’s most prominent presses. To name a few: Anthoensen Press- also known as Southworth-Anthoensen—(see images at left) was located at 37 Exchange Street (though originally on Middle Street). Mosher Press was nearby at 45 Exchange Street, and Colesworthy Press was located at 92 Exchange Street. The northern end of Exchange Street was the location of The Printers Exchange, and the legacy of newspaper publishing along the street likely inspired Guy Patterson Gannett to construct the Gannett Building (the original Press Herald building) at 119 Exchange Street.
Examples from Colesworthy Press, and Mosher Press.
Maybe some of you are stamp collectors?
Mekeel’s, which took flight here on Portland’s Temple Street (and later on Milk Street), still in business, is America’s oldest philatelic periodical. You can read more about Mekeel’s at our Digital Commons site.
Below: A Mosher Press imprint, with foreword by Maine’s Rufus Jones
Below: From our Archives: Anthoensen Press in 1981, 37 Exchange Street
You’re welcome to stop by the Portland Room, and you may contact us at portlandroom@portlib.org
(Above: Printed keepsake made by Anthoensen Press.
The quoted author was typographer and calligrapher Rudolf Koch {1876-1934})
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Indeed, we have been keeping alive and promoting the local traditions of bookbinding and calligraphy through the years, in harmony with our historic collections:
In this op-ed piece published on August 4, 2021, by the Portland Press Herald, PPL Senior Library Assistant, and author, Hannah Matthews, thoughtfully articulates PPL staff voices and experiences of keeping our community and each other safe as we open to the public
Maine Voices: By reopening to the public, Portland library is returning to our mission
BY HANNAH MATTHEWS SPECIAL TO THE PRESS HERALD
Welcoming you all back into our building makes it clear that we are all responsible for keeping each other healthy, safe and informed.
At work the other day, a woman approached me, apologizing. Her young son let go of her hand and went running past us, yelling that he was going to find a book. I could see, behind her mask and glasses, that she was crying.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she kept saying, as I searched my desk for a box of tissues I could offer her. “It’s just been such a hard year. We’re so happy to be back here again, with you.”
When the Portland Public Library opened our doors to the public June 22, my colleagues and I hit the ground running. Those of us on the front lines of public interaction had been nervously preparing for scenarios that could put us or others around us in danger. Many of us, staff and patrons alike, have young children who cannot yet be vaccinated, or elderly parents, or health conditions that make us especially vulnerable to the virus and its variants, and we all carry the weight of this awareness in our bodies.
The PPL staff has, like so many Mainers, faced a patchwork of stressors and struggles during this time: furloughs, reduced hours, shifting job responsibilities to fill in gaps, and the challenges of creating new ways to serve people remotely. Stress, fatigue, heartbreak and anger – financial, medical, logistical and existential – radiated through our city and, inevitably, our work.
And we were constantly, heartbreakingly, aware of our sudden lack of ability to serve all of our patrons. Folks with no computer access or no means of transportation were unable to reach out to us for help or information or human connection, as they normally would. Like nearly every other facet of life in America, we felt our work becoming inequitable as the pandemic dragged on. For people who chose our jobs specifically in order to help everybody, this was unspeakably painful.
In preparing to open to the public and get back to workdays that resembled our pre-pandemic job duties, helping patrons face to face, we have been nervous, yes, but also overjoyed and grateful to return to the pursuit of our mission.
Welcoming you all back into our building has meant seeing the children who have grown by a foot and a reading level over the year they’ve spent at home, the babies who were born since we last saw their parents, the patrons of all ages and circumstances who have discovered new authors and topics and interests in this time away from our stacks and help desks, and who are eager to tell us about all the changes that have happened in their lives during our long time apart.
Being a library worker is about so much more than information and books. Each hour of our workday is filled with the interactions and conversations, both large and small, that shape our patrons’ paths forward and our own. Beyond shelving and recommendations, beyond help with taxes and citizenship, beyond research and reading – librarianship is about securing equal footing for everyone and ensuring that our communities have access to trusted information and mutual aid resources in times of confusion, chaos and stress.
COVID-19 has only made clearer the reason that public libraries exist, and the reason that front-line library workers continue to serve at their desks: We all rely on one other. We are all connected, and thus we are all responsible for keeping each other healthy and safe and informed. That is why our doors have been closed, and it’s also why they are open now.
Welcome to the library, Portland, from the folks who help you find and check out your books, the folks who wipe down the tables and computers before you use them and the folks who take your phone calls and direct you to the community resources you need.
We’re so happy to be here again, with you.
Hannah Matthews is a PPL librarian and her written work has appeared in Esquire Magazine, McSweeney’s, Catapult, and more. Photo credit: Hannah Matthews.
