On September 11th, 2001, in the wake of the collapse of the Twin Towers, I created what may have been the first online “survivor registry”—a site where people could post their names to let unreachable friends and loved ones know they were okay. The site received over a million hits that day and the next, and while it may have outlived its usefulness as a tool, I present those lists of names here, along with other explanatory material, as a remembrance of how grief-stricken, helpless, and uncertain we all felt that tragic day.  —⁠William Shunn

The World in a List
The story of how the survivor registry came to be
Reports of Survivors
The names of those who checked in on September 11th
Requests for Information
Moving pleas from those seeking missing loved ones
Expressions of Support
Generous words from a multitude of strangers
Support Official Sites
The essay I wrote in despair on Friday, September 14th
International Post
Words folks from around the world have asked me to pass on to America
Outside Perspectives
What other folks have had to say about the survivor registry
September Eleventh Links
Where to go for better information on survivors