World Trade History Is Preserved in Rutgers Archives

Rutgers University Libraries house copies of documents lost 25 years ago on 9/11  

A piece of World Trade Center history is housed in the Rutgers University archives, saved as part of research by a retired American studies professor for his best-selling book on the original twin towers.

While on sabbatical in 1994, historian Angus Gillespie visited the archives in the twin towers daily and pored through documents from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey— the bistate agency that built and owns the World Trade Center. Gillespie looked at reports dating back to 1961 that Austin J. Tobin, then the executive director of the authority, sent to its board of commissioners. 

The pages detailed major decisions that went into building the World Trade Center, from the politics involved in winning support for the project to the design, construction and costs. The documents also included photographs taken as the towers were built starting in 1966 through 1973.

“The reports provided the basis for the chronological record of how the buildings were built, from the engineering details to the details about the elevator system and so forth,’’ said Gillespie, who retired last spring after teaching at Rutgers University-New Brunswick for more than 50 years. 

While doing his research, Gillespie flagged pages from the reports with sticky notes for the secretary of the World Trade Center archives to photocopy.

Those documents—along with newspaper clippings and interviews with people involved in the construction and who worked in the buildings—became the foundation for Gillespie’s book Twin Towers: The Life of New York City's World Trade Center, published in 1999 by Rutgers University Press. 

After completing his research, Gillespie turned over about a dozen boxes with hundreds of papers to Special Collections and University Archives, part of Rutgers University Libraries, where they have been cataloged and preserved. 

Gillespie believes his copies of the reports from the Port Authority’s executive director during the construction of the twin towers may be among the few that remain of the original documents—a belief also shared by the Port Authority. The Port Authority’s own archives were housed in the Twin Towers and lost on 9/11.

“Most all that are left are the papers that I flagged,’’ Gillespie said. 

As the nation marks 25 years since the twin towers were lost in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Gillespie’s papers are taking on renewed importance as a window into history.

“A lot of the records were destroyed in the attacks; there is not much left,’’ said Aman Patel, a project manager at the Port Authority who part of the Agency Research and Cultural History (ARCH) project, a group of employees working to collect and preserve the organization’s history. The group invited Gillespie to speak at the Port Authority in advance of the anniversary. “People like Angus Gillespie are the last vanguard of these historically important records for our agency.’’

Gillespie said he donated his papers to the archives to preserve his scholarship and support future research. 

“This safeguards my work for the historical record but also enhances the academic community by providing valuable resources for students and researchers,’’ Gillespie said.

Housing records like Gillespie’s is an important function of the Rutgers libraries.

“Preserving materials like these is at the heart of our responsibility as a research library and central to the mission of our special collections and archives areas,” said Consuella Askew, vice president for university libraries and university librarian at Rutgers. “Documents such as these preserve the details, decisions, and firsthand evidence that might otherwise be lost. These materials help ensure that vital pieces of our shared history remain accessible to scholars, students, and the public for generations to come.”

A Sought-After World Trade Center Historian

As the nation commemorates the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, Gillespie remains a sought-after expert on the twin towers. After the terrorist attacks, his book, which previously sold 2,000 copies, rose to No. 8 on The New York Times bestseller list in 2001. 

Aside from chronicling the trade center’s construction, the book also stood out for the interviews Gillespie conducted with the bartenders, shop owners, window washers, Port Authority police officers and others who worked in the buildings in what he viewed as “a city within a city.” 

Gillespie taught a class on the World Trade Center in the School of Arts and Sciences, appeared in a History Channel documentary for the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and has done numerous other interviews over the years. 

In addition to his recent presentation on the history of the towers to Port Authority employees, Gillespie has been invited to speak to other local community groups.

Patel, 26, who invited Gillespie to speak at the Port Authority through ARCH, said they wanted to hear about historian’s experience writing the book and visiting the World Trade Center.

“Passing the baton to a younger generation is becoming a never-forget moment,’’ Patel said. “Someone like myself never got to experience the original campuses, so somebody like Angus is a great firsthand resource for us.’’

Gillespie said over the years he’s talked to an increasing number of people who are too young to remember the twin towers or the terrorist attack, which is one of the reasons he keeps speaking about the history of the building and their cultural significance.

“I do it to honor the victims of the attack, the firefighters, police officers, innocent civilians, the nearly 3,000 people who died,’’ Gillespie said. “We should honor their memory, and I think that is one of the reasons for the importance of the 25th anniversary.’’