The Story of the Stuff: Issues in Temporary Memorial Preservation Main MenuWhat Are Temporary Memorials?A DefinitionThe Problem of Temporary MemorialsEssential Questions to BeginCase StudiesCase Studies IntroductionTexas A&M & the Bonfire Memorabilia CollectionCase StudyVirginia Tech & the April 16th Condolence ArchiveCase StudySandy Hook Elementary & the Story of the StuffCase StudyFurther StudyQuestions & Recommended ReadingsAshley Maynor5adce0171052a8cc24f02b7c0a0c96951154dfb5Self-Reliant Film
Interview with Sylvia Grider
12015-09-16T17:17:22-07:00Ashley Maynor5adce0171052a8cc24f02b7c0a0c96951154dfb560701An interview with Sylvia Grider, professor emerita of anthropology at Texas A&M about the Texas A&M Bonfire Memorabilia Collection. Supplement to the web documentary The Story of the Stuff.plain2015-09-16T17:17:22-07:00Vimeo2015-06-12T13:24:22video130566505Ashley Maynorinterviewdocumentarytemporary memorialpublic tragedyAshley Maynor5adce0171052a8cc24f02b7c0a0c96951154dfb5
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12015-09-16T17:17:22-07:00Texas A&M & the Bonfire Memorabilia Collection1Case Studyplain1621242015-09-16T17:17:22-07:00On November 18, 1999, the Aggie Bonfire, a 59-foot high stack of logs constructed ahead of an rivalry football game collapsed killing 12 students and injuring 27 others. Within a few hours, thousands of people gathered on the Texas A&M campus both to grieve and to leave objects at the growing "spontaneous shrine" along the security fence surrounding the accident site.
At this point in history, temporary memorials--at least on the scale of the one at Texas A&M--were a relatively new phenomenon, preceded only by the flowers left for Princess Diana in the wake of her death, items left at the Oklahoma City Bombing fence, and the acres of memorial objects left at Columbine High School after the school shooting earlier that decade.