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The Star Knight stands heroically, axe raised above its head, on the front page of a hand-drawn comic book stored inside a box. In the bottom left corner of the penciled drawing is a bright yellow sticker that reads “PLAINTIFF’S EXHIBIT 119.” 

In the same box is a photo of the plane crash that killed the comic’s author, Kenneth Bissett.

This comic and photo are two of many pictures, papers and personal belongings located in Syracuse University’s Pan Am Flight 103 Archives on the sixth floor of Bird Library. There are over 400 linear feet of material and more than 115 collections in the archives, said Vanessa St.Oegger-Menn, the Pan Am Flight 103 archivist and assistant university archivist.

Besides the personal items of those killed in the tragedy, the archive holds items relating to the disaster itself, the following investigation and the trial, St.Oegger-Menn said. 

St.Oegger-Menn has worked with the Pan Am archives for over six years now. She described her experience with the collection as deeply personal.

“It’s an honor to get to be part of taking care of the legacy of those that were lost — of making sure that our current students in particular know how significant this is to SU,” she said.

Elizabeth Acquaah-Harrison, a 2021-22 Remembrance Scholar, represents Bissett.

Before entering the archives, Remembrance Scholars attend a training on how to properly engage with all the materials, Acquaah-Harrison said. She was prepared for the archives to be an emotional experience, she said, but she did not truly grasp how emotional it would be until her first day in the archive’s reading room.

The room only contains some tables, a front desk and a bookshelf along with a few other scattered items. Guests cannot bring writing materials from outside the room. Viewers of the archive use white cloth gloves when viewing delicate items such as photos. It’s a controlled, quiet environment.

“I gave myself about an hour and a half, thinking I’d be able to get through two boxes in that time,” she said. “I probably got through like half of one box just because you have to take a moment to reflect and connect.”

On Friday, Oct. 22, the archive will hold a pop-up exhibition on the sixth floor of Bird Library from 10 a.m. to noon. 

“We’ll bring out some materials that speak to the types of reference questions that we get most frequently,” St.Oegger-Menn said.

Samantha Armetta is another 2021-22 Remembrance Scholar, who represents Alexander Lowenstein. For Armetta, the archives solidified the emotional impact of the Pan Am Flight 103. 

“The first thing that I opened was one of the journals that (Lowenstein) had with him on the plane. And I sat there for good, probably five minutes without even touching the journal and just teared up,” she said. “He was a person that was just like me, 21 years old on this campus, and it just hit me there that everything was so real.”

Armetta said she has a special connection to Lowenstein, as her father worked with Lowenstein for the two summers before he died. 

“If I go to the archives, (I tell my dad) ‘I learned about Alex today. … This was his favorite song,’ or ‘This is what he did that summer,’” Armetta said. “It’s been really really special … sharing this with my father as well and my entire family.”

When she was a freshman, Armetta visited the Place of Remembrance with her father.

“He’s normally very stoic, and we both just looked at his name. I could tell we were both just thinking about Alex,” she said. “It was a moment where I saw my dad show some emotion … for the first time.”

Armetta said the archives served as a bridge to understanding Lowenstein.

“Without the archives, I don’t think I would have had as much of an emotional connection as I would have with Alex,” Armetta said.

Published on October 19, 2021 at 11:25 pm

Contact Kyle: kschouin@syr.edu | @Kyle_Chouinard