Barrington High School alum Gary Marlon Suson is bringing his collection of photographs and rare artifacts from ground zero to his alma mater to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
Suson served as a New York City Fire Department ground zero photographer and documented recovery efforts at ground zero in the months after the 9/11 attacks. The exhibit features what the New York Times described as “rare photos” from ground zero and numerous artifacts.
“It’s a big honor for me to open up a 9/11 museum in Illinois,” said Suson, a 1984 alum of Barrington High School. Suson was named a Distinguished Graduate in 2019 by the Barrington High School Alumni Association.
In 2007, Suson opened the 9/11 Museum & Workshop ( https://groundzeromuseumworkshop.org
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) in the meat packing district of New York. That museum has received recognition, including being named one of the Top 25 children’s museum to visit by Trip Advisor in 2014.Suson has geared his exhibit toward educating children about 9/11 and the recovery efforts that followed in the months after the attacks. Though his exhibit includes more than 100 rare photographs from the ground zero recovery efforts, only two are of the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers.
“I wanted to re-create not just that day but the nine month dig for the missing victims,” said Suson, who said he often slept at a church near ground zero as he chronicled the recovery efforts for the FDNY.
Each photo has an audio recording telling the story behind the photo. Some of the stories include sounds from ground zero, such as machinery, dogs barking or a chaplain praying over a recovered body.
“The audio stories show a side to ground zero that the public did not know about,” said Suson.
The exhibit also features a number of ground zero artifacts including charred wine glasses from a bar inside the twin towers, clothing worn by recovery workers and children’s letters written to ground zero workers. It also will feature a crescent moon and star, a symbol of Islam carved out of World Trade Center steel, along with the Christian cross and Jewish star of David, also carved out of trade center steel.
“I thought that if we could get these three religious symbols together …. It would be a good sign of unity of the three religions united against terrorism,” he said.
Of the three symbols, Suson said the crescent moon and star is one of the most rare artifacts in his collection. Two of those, including one that weighs 120 pounds, will be on display at Barrington High School. Suson said he spent more than a year tracking down the three crescent moon and star symbols and found them in a storage warehouse in upstate New York.
Suson began working with Barrington Community Unit School District 220 officials about two years ago to bring his exhibit to the high school.
The exhibit is scheduled to be open to the public on Sept. 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again on October 2, before the Barrington High School homecoming game, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and on November 6 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Public tours will take place in half-hour increments. Space will be limited due to COVID-19 restrictions and tickets are required. Free tickets can be reserved at https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=129461.
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.