Work gloves, candles, cards and flowers on a shrine in front of the firehouse
on West 31st Street. Twenty-one firefighters were lost from this firehouse
and the three others that make up Battalion 7. Personal shrines mourning
fallen colleagues were soon shared with the public, who stopped by to
mourn and to pay tribute. The shrines often incorporate photographs of
fallen firefighters; the shot of the African American firefighter shown
golfing is one. Note the lighting devices for the candles, the foil to
catch the candle wax, and the unused work gloves, possibly left over from
the overwhelming response to calls for donations of supplies to be used
by rescue workers.
Photograph taken October 1, 2001.
Photographer Martha Cooper: As police precincts and firehouses
became galleries, the cops, and especially the firefighters, were the
curators of their own poignant exhibitions. At each firehouse, the firemen
selected and carefully displayed the donated drawings, writings, cards
and offerings, arranging them in elaborate and ever changing installations.
They added new work as it arrived replacing pieces damaged by rain. They
posted family photos of lost comrades among the floral displays, pruning
withered blossoms, sweeping fallen leaves, and taking care to keep the
flames of the many votive candles burning.
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