It‘s a snowy December 11th, 1964. Minoru Yamasaki sits back against his sofa, chewing lightly on his pipe, staring out at the snowy New York streets. He thinks back on the year he’s had, a busy one to be sure. It was just about this time last year that he had heard from the Port Authority that they were approving his design for the World Trade Center project. This project, a major endeavor, was probably the biggest he would ever do in his lifetime. He had designed a cluster of towers, including two intended to be the tallest on Earth. The project, when complete, was going to be located on 16 acres in downtown Manhattan, including some land that wasn’t even solid yet (they were going to fill in the Bay at a later date) and the other which was filled with the furious tenants of Radio Row, who had lost their legal battle in the U.S. Supreme Court and were looking to relocate with a mere $3,000 offered to them as a consolation prize. His design, released in January, had made all of the trade news. Hey, Design Quarterly featured his plan as the “balance between gravity and man.”  Commercials had successfully booked up many of the offices for sale in the first building, and it wasn’t going to be completed for another six years. Yes, 1964 had been quite a year.

The stories, events and images of the World Trade Center are essential in understanding everything we lost on 9/11; the Trade Center itself was a monument to modern America, an integral composite of global trade, civil rights, entertainment, fine art, shopping, and history.  Adding to that the extraordinary heroism of our first responders and civilians, we have not only the story of 9/11, but the story of America.  There is a reason why, on December 18, 2001, the holiday, “Patriot’s Day,” was passed into legislation.  Yet, no one seems to know this.

Since then, we have lost touch with much of what makes this history important, and more sadly, what makes this history accessible to our next generation.  As such, we have become the keeper of the memories, the stories, and the memorabilia from this totem of bravery and success.  The stories and facts surrounding the Trade Center and 9/11 are so magnificent.  For example, did you know that the first World Trade Center was created as part of the 1939 World’s Fair?  Or that Minoru Yamasaki was afraid of heights and had no interest in building a tall structure?  That the book “Thirty Seconds over New York” written in 1970 (before the towers were completed) detailed how to use a low flying plane to bomb New York?  Or that Osama bin Laden had a strained relationship with his father, which only ended when his father died on an airplane that crashed into a building?

We have created this website in dedication to World Trade, its survivors, those who served as emergency service personnel, and all those touched by World Trade. The purpose of this website is promote knowledge to our next generation, to provide support to those who need it, including survivors, fire, police, first responders, and other heroes of 9/11, and to promote Patriot’s Day as the nationally recognized holiday it was created to be in 2001. We hope you enjoy it, use it, share it, contribute to it, and join our battle of love.