As I mentioned that day was the local city elections. I was working for Betsy Gotbaum for City Advocate. I had raised money for her and was supporting her at the polls. Shortly after my (as mentioned in my testimony) obsessive printing of the pictures I had taken of the day, I sent a portfolio of them to Betsy, who by then fully embraced her position as Public Advocate for the city. She wrote back that she had framed them and hung them in her office at City Hall. This made me feel very humble and proud that I had participated in helping her get elected on that fateful day, and that she shared my experience by having my pictures in her office.
On 9/9/01 I had dropped my son at boarding school. He was very afraid and was calling me all the time. I went up to visit him at school a short time after 9/11 and brought the portfolio of pictures I’d taken and the published book Here is New York. In the library at his school they made a display of my pictures and the book for the students to be able to look through. Again, my photographs (and those of others) had reached out to people who wanted to be part of the experience.
Years later, my son got an internship working in Betsy Gotbaum’s office, and has ever since been working in politics in the United States. So, I felt part of making something good and helpful happen out of being a witness to the events of 9/11.
– Barbara Thomas, 19 August 2011