It's Much More Than Just Reading Names

Oral history recordings are usually long, detailed accounts. Lately, the sessions have resulted in only a few words – three or four words to be exact.

That’s because a team of oral historians and other museum staff are having the reading of the names of Sept. 11 victims professionally recorded. As part of the Memorial Exhibition experience, visitors will hear the names of lost loved ones read by one of 60 family members. The 2,982 names, which were divided among the 60, will be heard being read aloud in a space within the 9/11 Memorial Museum. For five days, a steady stream of volunteer readers recorded in a midtown recording studio. Each read, then re-read pre-assigned names. In some cases, readers were given phonetic spellings to help.

Part of the exhibit’s design is incorporating a variety of different voices reciting names. This means working with readers to perfect pronunciation despite thick accents. Here’s one light-hearted exchange with a retired firefighter father from Brooklyn:

The firefighter read, “Alex-AN-dah Nicholas.”

Can we try that again? This time say, “Alex-AN-der.”

That’s what I said, “ALEX-an-DAH.”

The name readers, like us, are dedicated in getting this perfect in honor of all the victims. Like the annual reading of the names in New York City, hearing each name spoken in succession in these recording sessions is to hear the diversity of those who were killed.  Hearing each name also conveys what so many people lost.

By Jenny Pachucki, Oral Historian for the 9/11 Memorial Museum