Hoboken Flags Honor 9/11 Victims, Families

HOBOKEN, NJ — Hoboken has many local links to the tragic September 11 attacks, but two, handmade flags are among some of the most poignant. This month, as the 15th anniversary of 9/11 passes, two community flags will be displayed for the first time together at Hoboken City Hall.

The first – the Hoboken Children's Memorial Flag - has been on display at city hall and the Hoboken Board of Education and has 229 handprints, eight of which are the children of the Hoboken victims.

• See related article: Hoboken To Honor 56 Locals Who Died In 9/11 Attacks: 2016 Ceremony

According to a news release from its creator, the second - a "Thank You from Hoboken" flag – originated in 2001, when “as a gesture of good will and solidarity in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, art teacher Amy Young in Rome, GA, created a large 7 foot by 15 foot flag with the handprints of over 600 schoolchildren from Glenwood Primary School. The school sent it to Hoboken residents Brenda King and Rob Guglimetti as a visual representation of community unity and support for the victims of 9/11. That flag was displayed on Pier A and Hoboken City Hall and is now in the permanent collection of the Hoboken Historical Museum.

In response, Hoboken artist Raymond Smith organized Hoboken residents to create a handprint flag to send to the school in Georgia. The resulting “Thank You from Hoboken” flag includes handprints and signatures of members of the families of 9/11 victims, Hoboken police and firefighters, Senator Bernard Kenny, Mayor Roberts and his wife, people from the Hoboken Homeless Shelter and the artist’s family and friends. The flag was finalized at the dedication of Deborah Williams Memorial Playground at Columbus Park in Hoboken on October 12, 2002, and then sent to the school in Rome, Georgia. It has been returned to Hoboken from Georgia for the 15th anniversary, and is shown for the first time together with the Hoboken Children’s Memorial Flag, also created by Smith in 2002.

Photo: Raymond Smith

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