The New York Public Library (NYPL) Acquires the CameraPlanet Archive, Historic 1,200 Hours of September 11 Video Archives

From The NY Public Library:

The New York Public Library today announced the acquisition of the CameraPlanet Archive, a world-renowned collection of more than 1,200 hours of video documenting September 11, 2001, its immediate aftermath, and the subsequent design and construction of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. This historic archive will be preserved, processed, and made publicly accessible through the Library’s research centers.

Donated by Emmy Award–winning filmmakers Steven Rosenbaum and Pamela Yoder, the CameraPlanet Archive is the largest contemporaneous video collection of September 11th and the Museum. Recorded by more than 130 New Yorkers using consumer camcorders, the footage captures both the devastation and the resilience of the city during one of its most challenging moments — long before iPhones, Twitter, or social media reshaped how major news events are recorded and shared.

Significance of the Archive

The Archive contains over 500 hours of first-person video recorded during the week of September 11, as well as more than 700 hours documenting the planning, design, and construction of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Although portions of the material appeared in Rosenbaum’s 2002 documentary 7 Days in September, the majority of the footage has never before been made public.

For over two decades, Rosenbaum and Yoder maintained and safeguarded the tapes independently, before donating them to the Library to ensure their long-term preservation and public accessibility.

Preservation and Public Access at The New York Public Library

The Archive will be stewarded by the Library’s Manuscripts and Archives Division, with public access expected to begin in 2027. Once available, the collection will join the Library’s extensive 9/11-related holdings, including charitable response records and the reporting files of New York Times journalists James Glanz and Eric Lipton.

“The CameraPlanet Archive adds a remarkable dimension to the Library’s collections,” said Brent Reidy, Director of the Research Libraries at The New York Public Library. “By preserving these firsthand accounts, we are ensuring that future generations can study September 11 as it was experienced by New Yorkers in real time.”

“Stewarding a collection of this scale is both a responsibility and a privilege,” said Julie Golia, Associate Director of the Rayner Special Collections Wing and Charles J. Liebman Senior Curator of Manuscripts. “Our work will focus on preserving the material and making it broadly available for scholars, educators, and the public.”

 “As a city, we made a promise in the days and weeks after 9/11 to never forget. This unprecedented archive will help us do just that for generations to come,” said Iris Weinshall, Chief Operating Officer of The New York Public Library who was New York City’s Department of Transportation Commissioner on Sept. 11 2001.

“At a time when misinformation, denialism, and revisionist history circulate widely, timestamped and contemporaneous video records carry renewed civic importance. The CameraPlanet Archive is not simply a record of tragedy; it is a safeguard against forgetting and distortion,” said Steven Rosenbaum.

“By any measure, the terrorist attack on September 11 was a major event in American history, deserving of extensive preservation and careful study,” said Kenneth T. Jackson, Barzun Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University. “This archive will help preserve the record for future generations of students and scholars.”

Public Program

To mark the donation, The New York Public Library will host a screening of 7 Days in September on Thursday, September 11, 2025, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM, in the Celeste Auditorium at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Following the film, Rosenbaum and Yoder will join historian Kenneth T. Jackson for a conversation moderated by author and journalist Kurt Andersen. The program will be open to the public, with details available at nypl.org.

Source

See Also: Coverage From The NY Times: “A Collective Video Diary of 9/11, in 500 Hours”

See Also: Understanding 9/11: A Television News Archive (via The Internet Archive)
More than 3,000 hours of Coverage (Broadcasters From Around the World)

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, Libraries, News, Preservation, Public Libraries