9/11 Museum to display LI ironworker's photos

Photos snapped by a Levittown ironworker on a summer job in the 1970s are about to become a part of history. The Sept. 11 Museum will feature photos taken by Jamie Nelson, a Long Islander who worked

News 12 Staff

May 6, 2014, 2:24 AM

Updated 3,913 days ago

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Photos snapped by a Levittown ironworker on a summer job in the 1970s are about to become a part of history.
The Sept. 11 Museum will feature photos taken by Jamie Nelson, a Long Islander who worked on the World Trade Center as it was built.
Nelson was 18 when he got a job in the summer of 1970 working on what was then the world's tallest building. As the eldest son of seven children, he says he was happy to get the job to help pay his family's bills: Nelson's father, a construction worker, had been killed in a jobsite accident at the Northport Power Plant.
For $10 an hour, Nelson scaled the scaffolding and braved the winds to help work on the World Trade Center. He also managed to snap some photos while on the job.
Decades later, Nelson submitted those snapshots to the Sept. 11 Museum to help tell the story of the towers, and says he was moved to tears when he heard his photos would be displayed.
Nelson lost eight friends in the disaster, and he says donating his pictures is a way of honoring all the souls who perished.
Nelson will take part in the dedication of the museum on May 19. It will open to the public on May 21.