COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – A sixth grader at White Knoll Middle School in 2001, Maurice Hallman remembers how his school day started on Sept. 11. His principal announced on the intercom for teachers to turn on their classroom televisions to see what was unfolding in New York City.
“It was heart-wrenching,” said Hallman, a Winthrop University alumnus who saw one terrorist plane and then a second hit the Twin Towers. “It just broke our hearts. We felt so helpless.”
His school used those emotions to fuel a fundraising drive to raise $500,000 to help repay a 150-year-old debt to a New York fire station.
In 1867, following the burning of Columbia during the Civil War, New York firefighters raised money to send a fire hose carriage to the devastated South Carolina capital. In response, Columbia made a promise to return the favor if New York ever faced a similar need. That promise was fulfilled following the Sept. 11 attacks.
As the nation prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, the South Carolina State Museum presents South Carolina Remembers 9/11: 25 Years Later, a new display that commemorates the tragic attacks and examines how South Carolinians responded in the days, months, and years that followed.
Hallman, now an insurance broker working in Columbia, said his community raised money however they could: car washes, bake sales, donations, etc. “Anything we could think of to give back,” he said, adding that he will be on hand on Sept. 11 at the State Museum to recall events.
Exhibit Captures How South Carolinians Responded
Museum officials said the exhibit is important because 25 years later, there is an entire generation of people who have grown up without a personal memory of 9/11. “I hope this exhibition encourages conversations across generations about how the historic events of 9/11 brought us together as neighbors, as communities, and as a nation that will never forget,” said Laura Cothran, the State Museum’s curator of history.
What the exhibit captures is known as “9/11,” shorthand for September 11, 2001, when four coordinated terrorist attacks were carried out in America by al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group.
Nineteen terrorists from al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes, deliberately crashing two of the planes into the upper floors of the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City and a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The Twin Towers ultimately collapsed because of the damage sustained from the impacts and the resulting fires. After learning about the other attacks, passengers on the fourth hijacked plane, Flight 93, fought back, and the plane crashed into an empty field in western Pennsylvania.
The attacks killed 2,977 people from 90 nations: 2,753 people were killed in New York; 184 people were killed at the Pentagon; and 40 people were killed on Flight 93.
Now on view in Columbia in the State Museum’s main lobby, the display features personal stories, mementos, news footage, and artifacts that document how communities across South Carolina came together in the aftermath of the attacks.
Guests can also learn about a remarkable promise between Columbia and New York that dates to 1867.
This is where Hallman connects to the project. In 2001, he, his fellow students and staff at White Knoll Middle School raised more than $500,000 to help replace Ladder 101, a Brooklyn fire truck that was destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001. In recognition of their efforts, the Red Hook Raiders gifted White Knoll Middle School a mangled piece of the original Ladder 101 truck door that was recovered from Ground Zero.
Additionally, the students and staff who helped raise the funds were featured on the Today Show. Part of that footage, as well as the fire truck door, is on view in the exhibition.
The exhibition also explores South Carolina’s connection to the events of Sept. 11 through astronaut Frank Culbertson, a native of Holly Hill, S.C. Culbertson was the only American on board the International Space Station on the day of the attacks and photographed the smoke and debris rising from Lower Manhattan from space. That photo is included in the exhibition.
The Museum will host a special talk with Curator Laura Cothran on Sept. 11 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the main lobby. The talk will highlight items in the exhibition and explore South Carolina’s role in remembering those lost on Sept. 11, 2001. Cothran will be joined by Jeffrey Brodie, SCSM Chief Engagement and Content Officer, who was responsible for collecting memorabilia and artifacts in the aftermath of the attacks. Hallman will also be in attendance.
South Carolina Remembers 9/11: 25 Years Later will be on view inside the Museum’s lobby until Jan. 3, 2027. Access to the display is included with museum general admission.
For more information, visit scmuseum.org.
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Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Associate Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.
