The Oklahoma State Capital

GUTHRIE, Okla. — In the days following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, members of Guthrie's Bible Baptist Church turned an open field into a striking memorial — 5,000 white wooden crosses, each meant to help people comprehend the enormous human toll then feared in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

The display was conceived during a men’s prayer meeting as attendees discussed just how difficult it was to understand what a number like 5,000 actually represented. Their idea: make the number visible. Soon, thousands of small white crosses covered the field beside the church.

On Sunday, September 23, hundreds gathered at the church to pray, sing “God Bless America,” recite the Pledge of Allegiance and walk among the crosses. An estimated 1,500 people visited the display during that weekend, with visitors stopping to pray, embrace and take in the scale of what had happened less than two weeks earlier.

The memorial did not remain merely a Guthrie story. Associated Press coverage carried the description of the event far beyond Oklahoma, with the Los Angeles Times publishing a story under the headline “5,000 Crosses Illustrate Magnitude of Tragedy.” CNN showed the Guthrie memorial during its national coverage, while television footage of the crosses was distributed through network feeds to stations across the country. Associated Press photographs of the display also appeared in publications far beyond Oklahoma.

For that moment in the aftermath of one of the darkest days in American history, the territorial capital became part of the national picture of mourning. A local church’s attempt to put an unimaginable death toll into physical form became an image seen around the country — thousands of white crosses standing in an Oklahoma field as residents gathered to remember the victims of September 11.