Where Were You on September 11? (article)

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I knew something emotionally powerful was happening because of the changed body language of the people walking and gesticulating outside of my classroom, who I could see through a little window in the door. After my 8:00 a.m. class ended, I joined the crowds in front of the television monitors. At the beginning of my 10:00 a.m. psychohistory class, I asked the students: Where were you when you heard the news of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and what did you feel and think about it? My questions were prompted in part by my own specific memories of where I was and what I thought and felt when President John F. Kennedy was shot. Before the scheduled end of the class, the college called off classes, which kept me from helping the students with their emotional needs but freed me to check on my own family in and around Manhattan.

Soon after the tragic events of September 11, we issued a call for papers on “Terrorism, Tragedy, Vengeance, and Mourning.” When Jennifer Clark responded on the psychological effects of the attacks with her emphasis on “Where were you when the World Trade Center was attacked?” (see article on page 160), we realized that we should include this topic in the call for papers as a separate section. Howard Stein’s perceptive article (see first page) started out as a part of this section but soon grew to a length where it would need to stand alone.

For a long time it appeared that we would be able to accommodate the Special Theme on Terror with the December Special Issue on Psychobiography (edited by Bob Lentz) but recently the volume of submissions on each subject made this impossible. Consequently, we decided to run the full Psychobiography Issue now with a few articles on the initial impact of the attacks on America. We will continue to accept submissions on “The Psychology of Terrorism, Tragedy, Group Mourning, Bio-Terrorism, and the War on Terrorism” for our March issue until January 15. Please see the Call for Papers on page 162.

Page 159