Twenty-five years ago, immediately following the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, local citizens gathered at Alki’s Statue of Liberty. Some passed out candles. Alki resident Dean Keppler drove to the Admiral Safeway to purchase paper bags.
For days, community members left personal messages and mementos – some items were brought intentionally like handmade peace cranes, fire department helmets, flags, and Beanie Babies. Other items, like sunglasses, baseball caps, and notes scrawled on paper were left spontaneously.
The plaza turned into a heartfelt, week-long memorial with hundreds of tea-light, paper-bag luminaries bearing uplifting and anguished messages along the Alki promenade.
With support of Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society collected the memorials when the period of national mourning was officially ended to preserve the fragile and timeless artifacts, memories, and reflections. The historical society also collected artifacts placed at the Statue of Liberty on the tenth anniversary.
The memorials were on display at the Log House Museum in 2002 and again in 2013 during “The Earth Cried Out,” an exhibition at Alki Arts Gallery. Videos and photos of the 2013 exhibition can be viewed in this West Seattle Blog article and in our 2013 Footprints Newsletter.
Artifacts from the memorial are on permanent display at the Log House Museum as part of the new Beyond Alki exhibition.
Below are scans of a small collection of the hundreds of luminary bags placed along the Alki promenade in 2001.
In 1952, local Sea Scouts and Boy Scouts erected a 1/18th scale replica of the Statue of Liberty to celebrate the Boy Scouts of America’s 40th anniversary. It was one of more than 200 replicas Boy Scouts placed across the United States and territories during the mid-century Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States as part of the Scouts’ “Strengthening the Arm of Liberty” campaign. These “Little Sisters of Liberty” represented freedom as a fundamental American value. At Alki, the replica became a popular meeting spot and photo opportunity.
Since 9/11, the Statue of Liberty Plaza has been a backdrop for protests and remembrances, including the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 and Renee Nicole Good’s fatal shooting by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in 2026.
9/11 Tea-Light Luminary Bags
