9/11 Edition of AARC Times To Be Included in Bush Presidential Library

February 17, 2011

When the planes hit the twin towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania September 11th, 2001, respiratory therapists joined their fellow health care professionals in caring for the victims, and AARC Times covered their heroic actions in the October 2001 issue of the magazine.

Earlier this year, AARC Times Editor Marsha Cathcart contacted archivists working to collect historical documents for the George W. Bush Presidential Library currently under construction at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, to ask if they would like to have a copy of this unique edition for their archives. The answer was a resounding “yes” once they learned that the president and first lady had appeared on the cover of the issue and were featured in an article about meeting respiratory therapists and others at Washington Hospital Center on September 13th. The AARC sent the magazine to the National Archives and Records Administration collection center, and a NARA archivist has now confirmed it will be included in the presidential library’s vertical files when it opens in 2013.

“It’s great to know that respiratory therapists’ can-do spirit and selfless actions during the aftermath of September 11th are being recognized,” says Cathcart. “Having this edition of AARC Times accepted by the Bush Presidential Library is an honor.”

You can read or revisit the October 2001 AARC Times coverage of the important role respiratory therapists played in the aftermath of September 11th in the AARC Times archives online at http://www.aarc.org/members_area/aarc_times/10.01/contents.asp.