Images of Twin Towers–themed New Yorker covers are displayed on a wall as part of the exhibition Cover Stories.
Photo by Jin S. Lee

Cover Stories

Cover Stories: Remembering the Twin Towers on the New Yorker is an exhibition of cover illustrations by 25 artists spanning more than four decades of the evolving New York City skyline.

A blue wall features a recessed mounted New Yorker magazine cover showing the Twin Towers alongside wall text about the exhibition "Cover Stories."
Photo by Jin S. Lee

About the Exhibition

Cover Stories: Remembering the Twin Towers on the New Yorker is an exhibition of 33 covers from the weekly news and culture magazine. From the time the original World Trade Center first rose into the skyline, it began appearing on covers of the New Yorker. For years, artists treated the Twin Towers playfully. After 9/11, somber imagery emerged. While the destruction of the towers was not depicted, the anxiety and sadness engulfing the nation took form on New Yorker covers after the attacks. Over the years, the covers commemorated the loss of the towers while documenting the revitalization of the site.

A group of students sit around a table, holding pencils, and peering down as they work. They are deeply engaged in a learning activity.
Photo by Jin S. Lee

Educational Resources

Each of the activities below connects to a specific cover featured in Cover Stories: Remembering the Twin Towers on the New Yorker. These activities serve to spark student curiosity and offer an entry point into a longer lesson or unit of study.

Center of the Universe

By Mark Ulriksen
Courtesy of The New Yorker © Condé Nast

An illustrated cover of the New Yorker magazine depicts a miniature Manhattan island floating in a spiral galaxy. The World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building stand out among shorter buildings. The galaxy is surrounded by white stars and navy-colored outer space.

Untitled

By R.O. Blechman
Courtesy of the artist

An illustrated cover of the New Yorker magazine from 1974 depicts the Twin Towers and other buildings on the Manhattan skyline as windmills, a reference to New York’s Dutch origins.

9/11/01

By Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly
Courtesy of The New Yorker © Condé Nast

An illustrated cover of the New Yorker magazine released shortly after 9/11 depicts a silhouetted Twin Towers on a dark gray background.

Moving Day

By Bruce McCall
Courtesy of The New Yorker © Condé Nast

An illustrated cover of the New Yorker magazine depicts the billboards of Times Square under an orange sky. One World Trade Center towers in the distance. The magazine’s mascot Eustace Tilley is seen riding towards the skyscraper along with Conde Naste employees, who are on a flatbed moving truck.

Memorial Plaza

By Adrian Tomine
Courtesy of The New Yorker © Condé Nast

 An illustrated cover of the New Yorker magazine depicts a newly opened Memorial Plaza. The Plaza is crowded with people taking photos and showing a range of emotions.

Holiday Travel

By Istvan Banyai
Courtesy of The New Yorker © Condé Nast

An illustrated cover of the New Yorker magazine depicts a Santa Claus passing through a metal detector at a security checkpoint. An officer observes the contents of his bag as it displays on a baggage screening monitor. A Christmas tree is in the background.

Street Scene

By Edward Sorel
Courtesy of The New Yorker © Condé Nast

An illustrated cover of the New Yorker magazine depicts the lower half of pedestrians rushing past a memorial set up to a firefighter. The memorial includes a photo of the firefighter and many flowers.

What So Proudly We Hailed

By Carter Goodrich
Courtesy of The New Yorker © Condé Nast

An illustrated cover of the New Yorker magazine depicts a yellow cab driver with a head covering peering out his window while gripping the steering wheel. His cab is covered in American flag decals and a God Bless America sticker. Nearly a dozen more American flags attached to the cab are waving in the wind.

Fears of July

By Art Spiegelman
Courtesy of The New Yorker © Condé Nast

New Yorker cover

Twin Towers

By Gürbüz Doğan Ekşioğlu
Courtesy of The New Yorker © Condé Nast

New Yorker cover
Four public program participants sit on a blue auditorium stage. A woman wearing glasses and a checked shirt is gesturing while speaking. The audience appears in the foreground in silhouette.
Photo by Monika Graff

When The Towers Fell

For the 15th anniversary of the 2001 attacks, Alice Quinn, poetry editor for the New Yorker magazine on 9/11, joined us for a night of poetry and conversation. Watch a recording of this program, which also includes a special presentation of Galway Kinnell’s poem, “When the Towers Fell,” by Stuyvesant High School’s Poetry Workshop.