Joanne Hanley, Superintendent, Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, Johnstown Flood National Memorial, Fort Necessity National Battlefield, and Friendship Hill National Historic Center.
Interviewed by Chuck Smythe, Ph.D., Cultural Anthropologist
May 7, 2002 Telephone Interview

[Ms. Hanley is Superintendent of four NPS sites in western Pennsylvania which are within 60 miles or less of the crash site of Flight 93. Staff people at these sites were not close enough to have witnessed anything, nor were they involved in the response. These sites were closed shortly before noon on Sept. 11.]

CHUCK SMYTHE: … What kind of came to your mind that morning -- the next day when you were back on duty in terms of -- like, did you start thinking of security, or changes in operations?

JOANNE HANLEY: Yes. … I came to Fort Necessity the next day, and we gathered all the staff together, and we had a moment of silence. And we really just talked about being secure and … the heightened sense of alert, and it was just a very somber, very quiet, kind of still -- we weren't sure what was happening… It's very rural, and I think that we reacted to New York, as probably the rest of the country did, and we really weren't quite sure yet how we should be reacting to Somerset [County, the crash site of Flight 93], because … it was still not within our immediate grasp of what happened. … [And] it certainly didn't even cross our minds that it would be connected to us, at all at that point.

CHUCK SMYTHE: So, [when did you first become involved with Somerset County?]

JOANNE HANLEY: …It was about three weeks after September 11th, and Marie [Rust, Northeast Regional Director, National Park Service] said she was calling a meeting in Philadelphia [at the Northeast Regional Office] of all of the people that were affected by this, to determine what the Park Service response was going to be. … And she said, "Joanne -- you know, I think maybe this is something that you want to be involved in. Have you been contacted by anybody from Somerset?" And it was -- to be quite honest with you, it was only at that time that it really hit me. … And I said no, let me come to the meeting next week in Philadelphia. And the enormity of it didn't hit me until that meeting in Philadelphia. And I'm not the kind of manager or the kind of person … where there's a tragedy, like [what] happened in Somerset County, within the first month, I was not going to be knocking on their door saying, "We're here, here I am - I'm the National Park Service. Have you thought about this being a national memorial?" You know, it's just not the thing to do. I had not been invited in at that point.

And so, I told Marie, "I'm not going to go to them unless I am invited in; unless the Park Service is invited in. I just don't think it's the right thing to do. …" And actually, I called the Congressman's office -- Congressman Murtha's office, with whom we have a very [good] relationship, and I said, "Look, they're having this meeting in Philadelphia about memorialization, and I think I ought to go to hear what they're talking about. And if this is something that is eventually going to come, or may come to Somerset County, I don't want to just call the Commissioners up; I'd like to be invited. You know, I want to make sure the Park Service is welcome and invited. " And so actually Brad Clemenson from Congressman Murtha's office kind of did the entry with Somerset County, and by the time I got back from that first meeting in Philadelphia, Somerset County had told Brad Clemenson not only would they like to meet with us, but they would -- you know, would love to meet with the Park Service.

CHUCK SMYTHE: … they probably had [difficulty knowing] what to think about or what to plan for.

JOANNE HANLEY: Well, they were overwhelmed. It was still October, and they were overwhelmed. I mean, the recovery efforts were still ongoing … I met with [Somerset County officials] … in early to mid-October, and I said, "Look, you need to be thinking about, short-term, mid-term, and long-term [needs]." These people were still in shock, to be quite honest with you. This is only a month after the crash, and they organized a meeting for what the short-term needs might be. In hindsight to me, a month after the crash was a long time -- six weeks -- but to them, it wasn't. I look back at it now, and think, "My God, how could they have ever dealt with putting together a meeting in the midst of all of this tragedy and recovery and press, and all of this kind of thing?" … You know, a lot of people were leaving curatorial items at this temporary memorial, and I said to the Commissioners - "You know, we probably should get a group of people together and talk about what the disposition of [these items] is going to be in the short- and long-term - [over] the next couple of years while things unfold." And my motto, working on this has always been, "In service, when asked." I absolutely refused to take a lead role in this, because we just don't have the jurisdiction, and it's just not appropriate, but I feel very okay about playing a strong supportive role, and I think that's probably where we could be the biggest help. So we helped to organize this first meeting, as to what to do with the curatorial items being left out there, and then what the next steps [were] going be?

And [the Commissioners] invited Pam West [NPS Chief of Museum Services] and a couple of my staff, and … the Pennsylvania and Historic Museum Commission -- the PHMC runs the Somerset County Historical Museum, along with the Somerset County Historical Society. [And] the Township Supervisors, the Mayor of Shanksville, the American Red Cross, the Coroner, the DA, you know, all of the local people. And basically we helped the Commissioners … do a scripted agenda as to where we thought the meetings should go in terms of curatorial [concerns]. Fortunately, the PHMC and the Somerset County Historical Society stepped up to the plate during this meeting … to say that they would take responsibility for collecting and cataloging and archiving all the items being left there, and for training volunteers to do that, and to this date they have over 2,000 items in their collection. … And we gave them the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Oklahoma City Memorial SOPs and Guidelines, and they adapted it for their use; they kind of came up with their own.

And then also at that meeting in late October, the decision was made to hold a town meeting in Shanksville and have it be an open town meeting, and to have panelists come and speak at the town meeting to talk a little bit about -- you know, what is memorialization, and what kinds of things did Oklahoma City go through? So, again, we were behind the scenes at this first meeting in October, where we kind of helped organize it; we got everybody at the table, and we gave them the guidelines, and they took off running by themselves. That was a great role for us to play.

And then, at this next town meeting, our role was we helped organize the town meeting. We found a facilitator that actually donated her services at no charge -- she was from Washington, DC, a really very, very competent, powerful facilitator. We flew in Bob Johnson, who was the Chairperson of the Oklahoma City Memorial Trust, and actually was the Chair of the Oklahoma City Memorial Task Force, and … we flew in Phil Thompson, who was the Co-Chair of the Families of Victims and Survivors Task Force for Oklahoma City, and then we flew in Ed Linenthal [Edward M. Pension Professor of Religion and American Culture at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkoshj], as well. We helped organize this town meeting, help[ed] do an agenda, and help[ed] the Commissioners put everything together. … And we videotaped it and made 45-50 copies [that] we distributed to people and we made sure a copy was sent to every family.

CHUCK SMYTHE: And when did that meeting take place?

JOANNE HANLEY: That was [early] December. … And then, out of that meeting in December, came the directive to begin moving towards a task force -- formulating a task force for the Memorial. And that's been ongoing. Mr. Murtha introduced legislation recently for a commission and a Flight 93 Memorial, and we were helpful to the Commissioners in giving our comments on the legislation. And the Park Service helped to draft the legislation for Mr. Murtha.

CHUCK SMYTHE: When you said helped to draft, were you -- did you provide a draft?

JOANNE HANLEY: Yes. Actually -- the request came from the Commissioners to [Congressman] Murtha; Murtha requested the Park Service to draft the legislation, so it went to the official channels. … And then it went back through the channels to Mr. Murtha at which time it was introduced, and the Somerset County Commissioners had a … special event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC [where it was announced]. Then, right after that the Commissioners along with our assistance focused on putting together a first planning meeting to prepare for [convening] a task force, and that just happened in April [2002].

CHUCK SMYTHE: This planning meeting?

JOANNE HANLEY: Yes … and that's where we are right now. The County has hired a full-time Flight 93 Coordinator, because it's just an incredible job, really an incredible job. I mean, there's press; there's donations; there's preparing for the first anniversary; there's putting together the Multiple Task Force, and there's media calls, and hundreds of people have already sent in memorial designs, and it's dealing with all of that. …

CHUCK SMYTHE: Do you see yourself continuing to provide support to that task group?

JOANNE HANLEY: Yes. I think there's -- we don't have a choice, and I also think it's the right thing to do. The Commissioners have always said that it's kind of awesome to know that they have the support of the National Park Service behind them whenever they ask for it. At this point, it's a very fine line to walk … to provide the support, provide your input and guidance, because they don't know yet about what's coming in terms of planning and you know, we can look with hindsight at what happened at Oklahoma City [and] with a little bit of objectivity. But the family members are so very involved, and so very clear that they want to retain control of the process, and you know, appropriately so. So, it is a fine line. …

CHUCK SMYTHE: Now, were the families also at the Task Group planning meeting?

JOANNE HANLEY: There were two families represented. And they represented everybody. … They're organizing themselves into a group, and some are more active than others, because each one of them are in different stages of the grieving process.

CHUCK SMYTHE: So, your role, and the role of Philadelphia is going to continue at this level? I mean, providing advice, providing support.

JOANNE HANLEY: Well, if the legislation gets passed, it's going to be up to a much more intensive level.

CHUCK SMYTHE: Well, what does that entail, the legislation?

JOANNE HANLEY: Well, the legislation calls for a Federal Commission, and to have the [National Park Service] Director on the Commission, and one local Park Service representative. … But the other part is that it provides technical assistance to the local Flight 93 Task Force. And when I say 'local,' that also includes families -- I don't mean just local Shanksville-Somerset. 'Local' means the grass roots, and even though the Commission is at a federal level, the way the legislation is written, it's almost as if the Commission is subservient to the local Task Force, because the Commission members are made up only from people that the Flight 93 Task Force recommends to the Secretary [of Interior]. And any planning or design that the Commission does must not supplant the efforts of the Flight 93 Task Force. So, if in a year the Flight 93 Task Force has a design process in place already, the Commission cannot come in and supersede that design process.

CHUCK SMYTHE: … the crash sites have had a lot of visitation [?]

JOANNE HANLEY: Yes, yes. … Johnstown Flood [National Memorial] is about 15 [or] 20 miles from the crash site, and we'll have directions to the crash site there. … The anniversary of the Johnstown Flood is May 31st, and every year we do a ceremony; we light 2,200 … luminaria candles along the banks of the old dam, and along the pathways, and this year next to the stage, we're going to have 40 candles for the 40 crash victims of Flight 93. And probably we'll keep doing that until a memorial is in place.

The Mayor of Shanksville, and the people of Shanksville have organized a program they call the Ambassadors Program. It's kind of like our volunteers, they go out to the crash site, to the memorial, and they volunteer their time and to stay there, and answer questions, and give the people coffee and donuts. …

CHUCK SMYTHE: Has the level of visitation at that site maintained itself?

JOANNE HANLEY: Yes, yes. On a beautiful sunny day, there's a constant stream of cars, and it's not unusual to have 200 or 300 people a day. …

CHUCK SMYTHE: Could you tell me a little bit about that six month anniversary?

JOANNE HANLEY: They had an ecumenical service in Shanksville at the Methodist Church in the morning. It was a two-hour service, and then everyone drove out to the site to dedicate a plaque … that was at the County Office Building, dedicated with the names of the 40 victims. That plaque was put on a piece of granite at the temporary memorial. And that's the only thing that will be allowed to be placed at the temporary memorial in a quasi-"permanent state." The Commissioners have passed an ordinance not allowing any permanent structures, any permanent planting of trees or flowers, any commercial selling of … whatever, because they understand that once something's planted it's going to be much harder to take it away. But the service was at the Shanksville Church, and I can't remember how many families attended, maybe ten families were represented. You know, a lot of them were in Washington at the White House that day. But they had, you know, a Lutheran and a Methodist, and Assembly of God, Presbyterian, Jewish, Buddhist, and an Islamic Imam. It was a very interesting service. The Imam who spoke for 15 or 20 minutes. It was a little bit tense when he spoke, because he was more political. He … spoke of how the Islamic people in our area, Altoona/Johnstown/Somerset area, [he said] "please don't judge them by the acts of a few." …

CHUCK SMYTHE: So, after the service people went out to the site?

JOANNE HANLEY: Yes. Where they dedicated the plaque.

September 11, 2001 Oral History Documentation Project
Northeast Region, National Park Service

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