IU librarian speaks about 9/11 Commission Papers

Kate Cruikshank, political papers specialist for IU Libraries, spoke Monday evening about the online collection of Lee H. Hamilton’s 9/11 Commission Papers, from 2003 to 2005, which debuted Sept. 3.

Didn’t make it to the talk? Here’s what you missed.

What was the 9/11 Commission?
“The 9/11 Commission, in a couple sentences, was an independent commission — not a congressional commission — that was formed to look into what happened on 9/11 and come up with recommendations for making sure it didn’t happen again,” Cruikshank said.

What is the collection?
While the collection isn’t comprised of the official 9/11 commission papers, it includes former Indiana congressman Lee H. Hamilton’s personal papers, such as e-mail exchanges and staff reports, during his time as Vice Chairman for the 9/11 Commission.

How did IU acquire the papers?
Cruikshank was archiving Hamilton’s congressional papers in May 2004 when the opportunity was first presented.
“We were talking about the congressional papers ... After he’d looked up what I had presented to him about the congressional papers ... he kind of turned and looked sideways and said, ‘Kate, would you have any interest in my 9/11 Commission papers?’” Cruikshank said. “His executive assistant swears she thought I was going to faint.”

What work went into the archiving?
Although Cruikshank was initially assured there were no classified documents in the collection, she discovered two while archiving. Cruikshank had to retrieve proper security clearance to continue her work with those documents.
She also redacted information when necessary, omitting confidential information for the online archives.

While a few documents from the collection are on display in the lobby of the Herman B Wells library, the entire collection of Lee H. Hamilton’s 9/11 Commission Papers are available at libraries.iub.edu/archives.

— ­Kirsten Clark