Banners for rescue workers
Description: These banners, made by school children in Kansas and Alaska, were sent to New York to express support for the World Trade Center rescue workers and were displayed at St. Paul’s Chapel.

Context: Many Americans looked for ways to help after the September 11 attacks. While most people could not travel to New York or Washington to help, many sent cards and banners of encouragement. These two banners, from the students of Oak Park Elementary School in Overland Park, Kansas, and members of the Maniilaq Association of Kotzebue, Alaska, were hung in St. Paul’s Chapel. The church, unscathed despite its location next to World Trade Center, was a refuge for recovery workers, a place for counseling, a massage, sleep, or just a break from the intensity of the disaster site.

	Banner from Kotzebue, Alaska Banner for rescue workers made by the Maniilaq Association in Kotzebue, Alaska, collected from Manhattan’s Saint Paul’s Chapel. Transcript: OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU MANIILAQ ASSOCIATION - KOTZEBUE, ALASKA
	St. Paul’s Chapel interior The Oak Park Elementary School mittens banner hangs inside Manhattan’s St. Paul’s Chapel, amid messages from well-wishers worldwide. A row of beds for rescue workers is visible behind pews covered by letters from schoolchildren.
	St. Paul’s Chapel exterior Crowds wait in line in front of St. Paul’s Chapel to visit the Fulton Street viewing platform for the World Trade Center site.
	Excerpt of St. Paul’s Chapel brochure The Oldest Public Building In Continuous Use On the Island of Manhattan When St. Paul’s Chapel was completed in 1766, it stood in a field “outside the city.” It was built as a “chapel-of-ease” – that is, a chapel constructed to make it easier for [...]
	Creators of mittens banner Children from Oak Park Elementary School in Overland Park, Kansas, proudly hold the banner they made for rescue workers in New York. Transcript: Oak Park Eagles Warm Your Hearts With our Mittens
	Mittens banner in museum storage
	Detail of mittens banner

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