Abstract
The New York-New York Hotel and Casino 9-11 Heroes Tribute Collection consists of materials from the "Heroes of 9-11" display that was at the New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada from 2001 to 2012. The materials primarily consist of more than 5,000 t-shirts left at the memorial by visitors to Las Vegas, mostly from fire departments and law enforcement agencies from around the United States. Visitors left shirts and other items at the memorial as a sign of respect for the men and women who died during the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001. The collection also houses memorabilia and other items left at the memorial, including flags, hats, pins, buttons, flowers, and embroidered emblems and insignias. The materials also contain documentation of the memorial, including promotional and press materials, video recordings from the news media, photographs, and newspaper articles.
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Scope and Contents Note
The New York-New York Hotel and Casino 9-11 Heroes Tribute Collection consists of materials from the "Heroes of 9-11" display that was at the New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada from 2001 to 2012. The materials primarily consist of more than 5,000 t-shirts left at the memorial by visitors to Las Vegas, mostly from fire departments and law enforcement agencies from around the United States. Visitors left shirts and other items at the memorial as a sign of respect for the men and women who died during the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001. The collection also houses memorabilia and other items left at the memorial, including flags, hats, pins, buttons, flowers, and embroidered emblems and insignias. The materials also contain documentation of the memorial, including promotional and press materials, video recordings from the news media, photographs, and newspaper articles.
Abbreviations commonly found on the memorabilia include: FDNY (Fire Department, New York); WTC (World Trade Center); NYPD (New York Police Department); NYC (New York City); TWP (Township); and NYNY (New York-New York Hotel and Casino).
Access Note
Collection is open for research. If use copies of the recordings do not exist, reformatting/production of use copies is required before access will be granted; this may delay research requests. Advanced notice is required.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See
xlink:href="http://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol/research_and_services/reproductions" xlink:show="new" xlink:title="Reproductions and Use"> Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into three series:
Series I. Documentation of the memorial, 2001-2012;
Series II. Memorabilia left at the memorial, 2001-2012;
Series III. T-Shirts left at the memorial, 2001-2012.
Biographical / Historical Note
The New York-New York Hotel and Casino opened on January 3, 1997, and was the first casino on the Las Vegas Strip to be a city-themed resort. It was modeled after the New York City skyline and includes a replica of the Statue of Liberty.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 marked a major tragedy in recent American history. The country was shaken by a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks: two on the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City; one on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.; and an attempted attack on Washington, D.C. that was stopped by a group of passengers, who diverted the plane from its course, causing it to crash in a field outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Shortly after the attacks, a spontaneous memorial was set up in Las Vegas, Nevada outside the New York-New York Hotel and Casino. Thousands of t-shirts and other tributes from around the world were hung along the fence in front of the Statue of Liberty replica, left by people who may not have had the opportunity to visit Ground Zero in New York City. The tributes included shirts from various police and firefighter departments, some of which were signed by their respective members. Other shirts were donated with accompanying letters honoring those who died during the attacks and in the immediate aftermath. In December of 2002, the New York-New York built a glass and granite case in front of the Statue of Liberty replica, creating a rotating display of donated shirts. During this time, the casino worked with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas's Gaming Studies Department to preserve the collection. This memorial remained outside the casino until 2013, when MGM Resorts International started a renovation of the casino for a new promenade, Madison Square Park.
In 2011, artist Troy Gillett used the donated t-shirts from the collection to create a double-helix art piece called "Common Threads" to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The 32-foot red, white, and blue structure was installed at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Lied Library entrance for a year, and it included approximately 3,000 shirts.
Sources:
Ahmed, Aida. "9-11 Memorial T-shirts Fashioned into Art at UNLV." Las Vegas Sun. September 11, 2011. Accessed January 11, 2016. http://lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/11/911-memorial-t-shirts-fashioned-art-unlv/.
Dreier, Hannah. "Casino Expansion Pushes out 9-11 Memorial at New York-New York." Las Vegas Sun. July 26, 2013. Accessed October 6, 2015. http://m.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/jul/26/casino-expansion-pushes-out-911-memorial/.
"Fact Sheets: New York-New York Las Vegas Hotel and Casino." MGM Resorts. Accessed October 6, 2015. http://newsroom.mgmresorts.com/new-york-new-york/fact-sheets/.
Formoso, Julie Ann. "Shirts Memorializing 9-11 Find Resting Place at UNLV." The Rebel Yell. September 15, 2014. Accessed October 6, 2015. http://www.unlvrebelyell.com/2014/09/15/shirts-memorializing-911-find-resting-place-at-unlv/.
Padgett, Sonya. "New York-New York Preserves 9-11 Memorial." Las Vegas Review-Journal. September 11, 2011. Accessed October 6, 2015. http://www.reviewjournal.com/life/new-york-new-york-preserves-911-memorial.
Walters, Kendle. "9-11 Exhibit Remembers." The Rebel Yell. September 12, 2011. Accessed January 11, 2016. http://www.unlvrebelyell.com/2011/09/12/911-exhibit-remembers/.
Weeks, Cate. "Art in His DNA." UNLV News Center. September 11, 2011. Accessed January 11, 2016. https://unlv.edu/news/article/art-his-dna.
Preferred Citation
New York-New York Hotel and Casino 9-11 Heroes Tribute Collection, 2001-2012. MS-00459. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated periodically by MGM Mirage beginning in 2002; accession numbers 2002-028 and 2002-030.
Processing Note
Materials were processed by Special Collections staff in 2002, with funding provided by MGM Mirage. In 2016, under the supervision of Karla Irwin, Kayla McDuffie created the collection description following current professional standards and processed the documentation and memorabilia.
In 2015-2016, a full audit and preservation evaluation was conducted of the t-shirt collections. This audit was completed by Kayla McDuffie, Hana Gutierrez, and student staff from the Preservation Lab in UNLV Special Collections. These students were Yolanda Meneses, Jessica Skarupski, Salvatore Veltre, Monica Landaverde, and Latasia Jones under the supervision of Conservator, Michael Frazier.
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Storage Location
Some materials are stored in the Lied Automated Storage and Retrieval Unit (LASR). Advanced notice may be required to access these materials.