Steel Fragment, Recovered
Last Column
- Description
- Steel column covered in various inscriptions in spray paint and marker and with ephemeral attachments including photographs, memorial and prayer cards, patches, stickers, and other tributes.
- Historical Notes
- The Last Column, a 58-ton, 36-foot-tall piece of welded plate steel, was part of Column 1001B, one of 47 columns that supported the inner core of the South Tower. When the South Tower collapsed, this remnant remained anchored in bedrock, buried beneath the wreckage.
Curator's Comment
At Ground Zero, Column 1001B helped to support a temporary haul road, known as the Tully Road, laid close to where the South Tower’s elevators had been located. Many first responders who were killed in the tower’s lobby were believed to be buried nearby. In March 2002, after the remains of some missing members of FDNY Squad 41 had been found in the area, a squad member painted "SQ 41" to mark the recovery. The marking is still visible at the center of the column. Prayer cards and other memorial tributes were attached to the Last Column, along with signatures and inscriptions left by recovery workers.
With an American flag attached to its top, the Last Column assumed symbolic status for the site’s recovery workers and those who witnessed their efforts. First responders painted their agencies’ initials and the number of 9/11 losses in large characters high on the shaft. They inscribed their own names and memorial messages lower. Workers prominently painted "2427" in honor of the estimated number of murdered civilians at that time. Relatives and friends of victims affixed photographs, memorial cards, notes, flowers, and other mementos. Members of the building trades attached union stickers and wrote patriotic messages. Many individuals from local, state, and federal agencies who had participated in the recovery efforts at Ground Zero signed their names or left messages, as did volunteers who had supported them.
On the evening of May 28, 2002, workers representing the trades at Ground Zero—ironworkers, laborers, dock builders, and operating engineers—were given the honor to make small cuts around the Last Column in order to free the column from its footing. In a private ceremony organized by construction workers, the Last Column was lowered onto a flatbed truck while bagpipers played "Amazing Grace." The column was then shrouded in black and draped with an American flag. Two days later, New York City and the nation publicly saluted the Last Column as it departed from Ground Zero. Police and Fire Department buglers played taps, bagpipers and drummers offered a rendition of “America, the Beautiful,” and NYPD helicopters flew overhead as the column was driven out of the site, marking the end of the nine-month recovery period at Ground Zero.
With an American flag attached to its top, the Last Column assumed symbolic status for the site’s recovery workers and those who witnessed their efforts. First responders painted their agencies’ initials and the number of 9/11 losses in large characters high on the shaft. They inscribed their own names and memorial messages lower. Workers prominently painted "2427" in honor of the estimated number of murdered civilians at that time. Relatives and friends of victims affixed photographs, memorial cards, notes, flowers, and other mementos. Members of the building trades attached union stickers and wrote patriotic messages. Many individuals from local, state, and federal agencies who had participated in the recovery efforts at Ground Zero signed their names or left messages, as did volunteers who had supported them.
On the evening of May 28, 2002, workers representing the trades at Ground Zero—ironworkers, laborers, dock builders, and operating engineers—were given the honor to make small cuts around the Last Column in order to free the column from its footing. In a private ceremony organized by construction workers, the Last Column was lowered onto a flatbed truck while bagpipers played "Amazing Grace." The column was then shrouded in black and draped with an American flag. Two days later, New York City and the nation publicly saluted the Last Column as it departed from Ground Zero. Police and Fire Department buglers played taps, bagpipers and drummers offered a rendition of “America, the Beautiful,” and NYPD helicopters flew overhead as the column was driven out of the site, marking the end of the nine-month recovery period at Ground Zero.
- Accession Number: C.2009.310.9
- Dimensions: 441 in X 77 in X 32.5 in
- Dimensions (Metric): 1120.14 cm X 195.58 cm X 82.55 cm
- Source: Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (donor)
- Credit Line: Recovered from the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001, Courtesy of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The preservation of this artifact was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services via Save America’s Treasures
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