The Last Column: Impacts on and Significance to the Visual Narrative of 9/11

Abstract

The Last Column, the final steel beam removed from Ground Zero, is the centerpiece of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York. This paper demonstrates the Last Column’s significance in the visual narrative of the September 11th, 2001 attacks. I focus on four different ways the Column’s significance has been created. First, I look at the removal ceremony. I argue that the ceremony solidified the Last Column’s position as a venerated object. This contributed to both its overall significance and its transformation from a compositional object to a memorial and work of art. My second section looks more closely at the 9/11 Museum, the current home of the Last Column. My research and personal experience with the museum point to its importance in creating meaning around the Column. I claim that the way the Column is presented in the museum shapes the narrative surrounding it, its significance, and Minimalist aesthetic. My third section focuses on personal connections and reactions to the Last Column. Using the idea of Phenomonology, I maintain that much of the Last Column’s significance is derived from viewers’ interactions with it. The fourth and final section of my writing focuses on the visual aspects of the Column. I contend that features of the Column’s appearance underscore its significance while also highlighting different perspectives that are not included. Through all of this, I maintain that the Column is consequential to the visual discourse of 9/11 and representational for the American reaction in the aftermath of the attacks.