New Haven Exhibit Reflects on Terrorist Attacks of 9/11
Story by Joe Pisani
They called him “the elevator man.” He was Charles “Chuck” Costello Jr., who on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, went from the hotel in lower New York City’s SoHo, where he worked as an elevator technician, to the World Trade Center to help in the rescue effort after the terrorist attacks.
He left his truck on the street, ran into the burning North Tower about 9 a.m. and is credited with saving hundreds of lives. On Jan. 6, 2002, his remains were found beneath the South Tower.
A member of the Knights of Columbus St. Ambrose Council 6424 of Old Bridge, N.J., Costello is one of 46 Knights memorialized in a temporary exhibit currently on view at the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center in New Haven.
The exhibit, “Remembering 9/11: 25 Years Later,” marks the 25th anniversary since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, when four planes were hijacked, two of them striking New York City’s twin towers. Another plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the fourth into a Pennsylvania field after the passengers attacked the hijackers.
In total, 2,977 people were killed, thousands were injured, and many more died in the years that followed due to health issues.
The local exhibit honors all the victims, their families and those heroes who risked their lives to save countless others, according to Bethany J. Sheffer, curator and registrar of the pilgrimage center.
“This tragedy is part of our history, and it’s important for us to remember those whose lives were lost,” Sheffer says. “And it’s equally important for us because we are honoring those Knights who died and played a role in the relief efforts.”
In the exhibit, a sequence of photos narrates the events of the day. The exhibit also provides brief biographical information about the 46 Knights of Columbus members — including firefighters, police officers and civilians — who perished in the terrorist attacks.
Some of the items on display include a fragment from one of the towers, a replica firefighter helmet given by the Fire Department of New York, and a FDNY cap that belonged to Father Mychal Judge, a Franciscan friar, who was chaplain of the department and was the first officially recorded fatality of the attacks.
There are rosaries that were distributed to the firefighters and law enforcement officers during the rescue response and a gas mask worn by then-Supreme Chaplain Bishop Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn, N.Y., when he visited Ground Zero.
Also on display are prayer books and programs from a solemn Mass of Remembrance at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., attended by 1,100 Fourth Degree Knights on the first anniversary of the attacks.
As part of the museum’s permanent Wall of History for Sept. 11, other items related to the terrorist attacks are on display. They include two twisted beams from the World Trade Center, a severed street lamppost from a neighborhood close to the World Trade Center and information about the Heroes Fund project that provided immediate assistance to families of emergency responders who lost their lives in the rescue and recovery efforts.
Through Oct. 11, “Remembering 9/11: 25 Years Later,” is on display at the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center in New Haven. This temporary exhibit supplements the permanent memorial to the Knights of Columbus who perished on that day. To learn more, call 203.865.0400 or visit michaelmcgivneycenter.org.