Accession Number: C.2016.87.1
Dimensions: 5 in X 3 in X 10.5 in
Dimensions (Metric): 12.7 cm X 7.62 cm X 26.67 cm
Credit Line: Gift of Tiffany A. Shea
Description
Nine West brand pair of women's black leather heels. The shoes are worn, with discoloration and tearing on the inside. Both shoes are lightly coated in dust.
Historical Notes
Tiffany Shea was in her office at the Bank of New York at 1 Wall Street, a short distance from the World Trade Center, on the morning of September 11. She stayed at her desk throughout the morning despite the commotion outside. When the Towers collapsed in close succession, Shea felt the exterior scaffolding of 1 Wall Street shudder, and the view outside her street-level office window went completely black. She eventually began her evacuation with other executives in the office as well as her sister-in-law, who worked on one of the bank’s higher floors.
Shea and her sister-in-law headed uptown to a relative's apartment on the Upper East Side. The two got as far as Union Square before the heels that Shea was wearing became so painful the women could not continue. They stopped in a local store to purchase flip-flops for the rest of the journey.
Shea returned to work downtown a little more than a week after the attacks and was able to move back into her lower Manhattan apartment by the end of October. She kept her dust-covered shoes as a reminder of her experience.