On Sept. 11, 2001, a Lower Manhattan classroom of preschoolers witnessed
the attacks on the World Trade Center. How are they doing now?
"The Youngest Witnesses,"
an ongoing project of educator Loyan Beausoleil and photographer Gabe Kirchheimer, has documented the thoughts,
feelings and development of a group of young children, then ages 3-5, who directly witnessed the destruction of the World
Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Through observing and documenting the children's conversations, art and play—involving
traumatic issues such as fires, terrorists and bad guys, plane crashes, rescue attempts, death and dying—the authors
have charted the children's progress in making sense of the attacks. All the children involved in this project have
attended a preschool located less than a mile from
Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan.
Loyan Beausoleil is the director and teacher of the pre-kindergarten class at the small school,
which serves the children of New York University faculty members and other downtown professionals, all of whom live
within a mile of the WTC site. Beausoleil began recording the fascinating conversations the children in her class were
having about September 11 when they returned to school a week later, and continued to transcribe their words throughout
the school year. Interviews with their parents—who include actors, artists, musicians and other creative professionals—added
valuable perspective to each child's story. The children's paper artworks and especially block representations of
the WTC from the 2001-2002 school year—prolifically and almost compulsively created—were documented and archived. In
the summer and fall of 2003 Beausoleil again interviewed the children and parents, and in the spring of 2004 the children
were interviewed on video as they viewed the model of the new World Trade Center building displayed at The Center for Architecture
on LaGuardia Place. What has emerged is a portrait of Lower Manhattan children profoundly affected by the attacks.
Each child has been deeply affected, and several have displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD). Most witnessed the event firsthand, some were evacuated from their homes and all experienced the uncertainty
and fear that came from seeing how difficult it was for the adults around them to cope with the situation. These children
have changed their view of the world around them, questioning their safety and place within their environment. Some children
began to discuss their experiences only months afterward, and many have developed psychological problems or phobias, such as
fear of elevators, airplanes, being left alone or loud noises, and several continue to experience sleep disorders.
Loss of security and innocence is the natural by-product of such an overwhelming experience. The Youngest Witnesses
project aims to document how young children so close to this tragedy are processing this event through artwork and play, the
deep feelings and understanding they demonstrate, and how they are communicating this knowledge to their peers and adults.
Ms. Beausoleil has presented this work at the National Association for the Education of Young Children's annual
conferences in November 2002 and November 2003, the Playing for Keeps Conference at Yale University in March 2003, the
Kentucky State Conference on Early Childhood Education in June 2004, Wheelock College and other venues.
Gabe Kirchheimer, a widely published photojournalist, photographed the children in the months after the disaster
(which he photographed on Sept. 11), and he has continued to photograph them since that time. His early photographs of the
Youngest Witnesses, with their Twin Towers of blocks and plastic airplanes, have been published in the major German weekly
Stern and the monthly GeoLino.
To see the complete
story please contact Gabe Kirchheimer.