Photograph, Print

Barry Crumbley, Red Cross Volunteer

Description

Life-sized Polaroid photograph taken by Joe McNally depicting Red Cross volunteer Barry Crumbley. Crumbley is wearing his red Disaster Relief jacket and his white Red Cross hard hat. The hat has a small stuffed teddy bear attached to it. Crumbley has a respirator hanging around his neck, and he holds goggles in his hand.

Historical Notes

In 2001, Barry Crumbley—a resident of Mount Vernon, New York—was serving as a government liaison to the American Red Cross of Greater New York. He coordinated the agency’s response protocols prior to, during, and following any large-scale disaster. Crumbley had graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison after studying both mortuary science and agricultural science. He later worked for New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and in the pathology departments of two metro-area hospitals. Crumbley confronts McNally’s giant Polaroid lens wearing his Red Cross Disaster Relief jacket over a white branded Red Cross turtleneck, with a respirator around his neck and a pair of safety goggles clutched in his right hand. Crumbley also brought along a plush toy which decorates his white hard hat: a bear wearing a Red Cross cap and vest.

Crumbley’s connection to the dramatic attacks which leveled the World Trade Center was deeply personal. At 8:46a.m. that Tuesday morning, he was at home. His wife, Renee, employed by the Port Authority of NY&NJ, had left earlier for her job on the 64th floor of the North Tower. When she phoned him from her office to report a powerful explosion, he urged her to evacuate immediately. He then rushed to Red Cross headquarters in Midtown Manhattan and boarded one of the agency’s emergency response vehicles heading to lower Manhattan, anxious to locate Renee. He was at a safe distance from the Towers when he watched them collapse, the status of his wife still unknown. Crumbley recalled: “When I got to the scene, I witnessed people falling and one of the buildings fall. I didn’t know if Renee was out. I kept saying to myself, ‘this for real. This for real.’ I didn’t hear from her until six. It was one of the worst days of our lives.”