Oral History with Anthoula Katsimatides

Oral history interview with Anthoula Katsimatides and Jenny Pachucki on April 4, 2024.

Anthoula Katsimatides is a 9/11 family member, former Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) staff member, and is a Founding Trustee of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. In this interview, Katsimatides reflects on her upbringing in a close-knit Greek American family in Astoria, Queens, and remembers her brother John A. Katsimatides, who was killed while working at Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. She recounts the profound impact of losing both her younger brother Michael to suicide in 1999 and John two years later, and discusses how those experiences shaped her personal and professional life. Katsimatides describes her work for Governor George Pataki before joining the newly established Lower Manhattan Development Corporation as a liaison to victims' families, where she represented family interests while navigating her own grief. She discusses the early planning and rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, including debates surrounding the Memorial design, the arrangement of victims' names, the International Freedom Center, the preservation of the “Survivor Stairs,” and the establishment of the repository for unidentified human remains at bedrock. She also reflects on the opening of the 9/11 Memorial, the significance of the Museum, her departure from the LMDC following Governor Pataki's administration, and her continued commitment to remembrance through the JAM Forever Memorial Fund established in honor of her brothers. Throughout the interview, she emphasizes the importance of faith, family, advocacy, and healing while reflecting on the enduring responsibility to honor those lost on September 11.

In a follow-up interview recorded on May 29, 2024, Katsimatides focuses on the rebuilding of Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was destroyed in the attacks on the World Trade Center. She recounts her involvement in facilitating discussions among Governor Pataki, the LMDC, and church leaders, and reflects on the many years required to realize the project. Katsimatides discusses the significance of architect Santiago Calatrava's design for the Saint Nicholas National Shrine, which opened in 2021, and describes the church's enduring spiritual and symbolic importance overlooking the 9/11 Memorial. She concludes by reflecting on her decision to be married there in 2022 and on the profound personal connection she continues to feel between the shrine, the Memorial, and the memory of her brother John.