Donna Caggiano oral history interview conducted by Julie Broihier, June 8, 2010, September 13, 2010

About

Donna worked as an electrician for Local 3 on 9/11/2001. She was one of 50 women in the industry and is a third-generation electrician. In her 20 years as an electrician, she has worked in major construction sites in schools, tunnels, and on bridges. She worked as a fiber splicer and was the first female forewoman at Ground Zero. On the morning of the attack, Donna was at home watching the events on TV. She knew she would try to go to Ground Zero the next day. She said, "I knew it would be the worst construction site I'd ever seen." On 9/12/2001, she was walking over the 59th St. Bridge and saw there was a bus with volunteer ironworkers heading to Ground Zero. For insurance reasons, electricians had to be "hired" to work at Ground Zero, however, Donna managed to get on the bus with her apprentice. She remembers carrying her vest and pocket tools on the bus. She recalls that everyone was in a good frame of mind, and that "there was standing room only" on the bus. She saw a lot of chaos at the site. She mentions the lack of equipment, lack of masks-they only had dust masks-but said, "At that moment, it was about saving lives, not equipment." Donna worked periodically for 24 days at Ground Zero as a fiber splicer, and returned in February 2002 in a hired position. However, she mentions her company, S & J, didn't like women being down at the site. Donna mentions that she had PTSD from her experience at Ground Zero. In the future, she advises that people should think about their…

Archive

Library of Congress, in Library of Congress

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Rights statement at the Library of Congress, as the Library of Congress states it.

Credit

Library of Congress

Language

English

Country

United States

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