The 9/11 Flag: Borrowed, Stolen, Recovered tells the mostly unknown, strange history of the 9/11 Flag showcased in the Museum's Atrium level exhibit.
At roughly 5 p.m. on September 11, 2001, three firefighters raised an American flag above the smoldering ruins at Ground Zero. The act was caught on film by photographer Thomas E. Franklin of the Record (Bergen County, NJ). It quickly made its way around the globe and became one of the most iconic images of the day, signifying the country's strength and resilience.
The flag those firefighters raised came from a yacht owned by Shirley Dreifus and her late husband Spiros Kopelakis, which had been docked at the World Financial Center. Just hours after the famed photo was taken, the flag vanished. Thirteen years and one History Channel documentary later, "the 9/11 Flag" was recovered.
Dreifus writes about the mystery and the long search for answers in her new book, The 9/11 Flag: Borrowed, Stolen, Recovered.