Shoes
- Description
- Pair of light-brown patent leather women's heels. There is dried blood residue around the back of the left shoe.
- Historical Notes
- Fiduciary Trust employee Linda Raisch-Lopez began her evacuation on the 97th floor of the South Tower after seeing flames erupt from the North Tower. When she reached the debris-strewn World Trade Center Plaza, she began walking north. Not until she was in line to board a ferry home to New Jersey did Raisch-Lopez notice that blood from her cut and blistered feet had stained her heels.
Curator's Comment
Linda Lopez arrived at her office on the 97th floor of the South Tower around 7:30 in the morning on 9/11. Little more than an hour after settling in she heard a booming noise and joined her colleagues at a window to investigate. Confused but not panicked by the sight of flames erupting from the North Tower, Lopez decided to leave and entered the emergency stairwell. Removing her brand new, barely worn high-heels, she began walking down the stairs at a normal pace.
Lopez had reached the 61st floor when she heard a terrible noise and felt the building sway, marking the crash of hijacked Flight 175 into the South Tower. Unaware of exactly what had occurred, Lopez continued to the concourse level, still barefoot.
Lopez walked uptown on Church Street for several blocks before realizing that she wasn’t wearing her shoes. Putting them back on her feet, she continued walking and had reached Canal Street, north of the World Trade Center, when she heard the roar of the South Tower collapsing. It was only after she arrived at the Hudson River pier at 39th Street, where a long line of people were waiting to board ferries to New Jersey, that a woman in line alerted Lopez that her feet were bleeding.
Lopez reunited with her family at home in New Jersey at around 1:00 that afternoon. She kept her bloodstained shoes as a testament to the trauma she endured that day.
Lopez had reached the 61st floor when she heard a terrible noise and felt the building sway, marking the crash of hijacked Flight 175 into the South Tower. Unaware of exactly what had occurred, Lopez continued to the concourse level, still barefoot.
Lopez walked uptown on Church Street for several blocks before realizing that she wasn’t wearing her shoes. Putting them back on her feet, she continued walking and had reached Canal Street, north of the World Trade Center, when she heard the roar of the South Tower collapsing. It was only after she arrived at the Hudson River pier at 39th Street, where a long line of people were waiting to board ferries to New Jersey, that a woman in line alerted Lopez that her feet were bleeding.
Lopez reunited with her family at home in New Jersey at around 1:00 that afternoon. She kept her bloodstained shoes as a testament to the trauma she endured that day.
- Accession Number: C.2010.297.1
- Dimensions: 5 in X 3.37 in X 6.87 in
- Dimensions (Metric): 12.7 cm X 8.5598 cm X 17.4498 cm
- Source: Linda Raisch-Lopez
- Credit Line: Gift of Linda Raisch-Lopez
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