LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — 25 years after the September 11 attacks, FOX5 takes a look at a special collection of thousands of mementos, tributes, and personal items left at a makeshift memorial in front of the New York-New York Hotel and Casino.
In the hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, tourists, visitors and locals were moved to pay respects and honor the fallen and wounded: they went to the Statue of Liberty in front of the New York-New York Hotel and Casino on the Strip.
“Hours after it happened, there was a spontaneous memorial that was set up in front of New York, New York. People started leaving flowers and candles, and then also a lot of T-shirts. We have roughly 5,000 T-shirts that were left there over the following year,” said Chris Taketomo, curator for Gaming Collections.
Most of the T-shirts come from firefighters and other first responders from agencies across the country.
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There are 6,000 items in the 9/11 collection at the UNLV Special Collections and Archives.
Items range from flowers, American flags, photos of the fallen, and even funeral programs for victims. People across the country mailed poems or tributes to the resort, asking staff to place them at the public display. Some even brought their flags from around the world.
After the items started to see wear and tear from the elements, in 2002, MGM – then called MGM Mirage- reached out to UNLV Special Collections and Archives to help preserve the growing number of items. The Collections staff worked with MGM for some time to rotate T-shirts on display.
Taketomo hopes that members of the public and UNLV students who were born after the tragedy take time to view the items.
“Being able to touch the items and see-we’ve got handwritten poems, things that were handmade that have photographs on them–it really helps students and anyone else who’s younger appreciate how much this affected people. Just being able to actually hold the things in your hands is really meaningful,” Taketomo said.
The UNLV Special Collections and Archives is on the third floor of the Lied Library and is open Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Folks can check in at the front desk and request items to see.
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