9/11 Memorial and Museum adding long lost portrait of victim Albert Ogletree
NEW YORK -- It was a somber, but incredibly important day at the 9/11 Museum and Memorial as one of two missing portraits of the deceased was hung, ensuring history will never forget.
Along the walls of the "In Memoriam" exhibition only two portraits remained missing amongst 2,983 -- one of Antonio Dorsey Pratt and one of Albert Ogletree. Swamp white oak leafs, representing strength and resilience, filled the void until Tuesday, CBS2's Vanessa Murdock reported.
Nearly eight years after the 9/11 Memorial and Museum opening, all who visit will finally know the face of Ogletree and more of his story. Ogletree was 49 years old and working at Forte Foods when the north tower fell.
"We can't get tripped up in the numbing huge statistic. We need to understand that each person who made up that statistic held great meaning to those who loved them," chief curator Jan Ramirez said.
Ramirez explained that a search for Ogletree's portrait hit a dead end, until Grant Llera joined the museum as a visitor services associate. Llera often works in the exhibit and became intrigued by the personal stories not yet told. He spoke with Ramirez and launched his own search to learn more about the men behind the missing portraits. He found success first with Ogletree, tracking down his stepdaughter and connecting with her via Facebook.
"She actually did not have any photos of her father because he was a camera-shy man," Llera said.
He used his own ancestry.com account to locate an old address in Romulus, Michigan.
"I decided to take a stab in the dark and write to the local high schools," Llera said.
A few weeks later, and after searching through yearbooks from the 1960s, "We were able to find Albert's ninth grade, freshman high school portrait," Llera said.
"It's black and white, sweet vulnerable. Life's hardships hadn't etched themselves anywhere yet," Ramirez added.
Ogletree's stepdaughter verified the photo and said even though it had been taken more than 30 years earlier, really, his appearance had not changed much at all.
Llera shared the historian in him and felt deeply exited.
"However, I also felt that it was a true success, mostly for, first and foremost, to Albert," Llera said.
He said hanging Olgetree's picture helps keep the promise made by the 9/11 Memorial and Museum to each victim -- "No day shall erase you from the memory of time."
Llera is still working to find Dorsey Pratt's extended family, hoping the final missing portrait can be hung.
Three additional swamp white oak leafs hang in the halls of "In Memoriam" at the request of families who specifically asked their loved ones portraits not be used.
