Ives - From Hanover Sq. North, at the End of a Tragic Day, the Voice of the People Again Arose

Ives is one of the greatest American composers. But even though he's famous for being a New Englander, he was, from his graduation from Yale until the end of his life, a resident of Manhattan. When the Lusitania sank in 1915, it was probably the most tragic event in many New Yorkers' lives. Ives, working on Wall St., went to catch his normal train up to his Village home. As he went up on the platform, the overwhelming sense of dread and sadness was transformed by the communal singing of a hymn, "In the Sweet By and By."

this moment of people coming together in downtown Manhattan to celebrate life in the face of great tragedy and conflict is representative of all the good things about 9/11. And it's free of much of the negative things about 9/11 - the fear-mongering, the jingoism, the ethnocentrism, or the focus on revenge.

Jake