The National 9/11 Memorial Museum, located at the former site of the World Trade Center in New York, was opened in May 2014 to honor the nearly 3,000 people that were killed on September 11, 2001, in one of the worst terrorist attack in the country. The Museum’s 110,000 square feet of exhibition space located 70 feet below ground level, at the foundations of the original twin towers, tell the story of 9/11 through a variety of multimedia displays, archives, narratives and a rich collection of monumental and authentic artifacts. The museum houses more than 10,000 artifacts salvaged from the destroyed buildings – from personal mementos such as a teddy bear, an unposted letter, a shoe, to large artifacts like mangled pieces of steel from the collapsed towers, an elevator motor, wrecked fire engines and pieces of plane.
The remnant of a firetruck that was damaged in the September 11 attacks. Photo credit
One of these artifacts is the historic "Survivors' Stairs", a 22-foot-tall flight of granite-clad stairs that connected Vesey Street to the World Trade Center. During the September 11 attacks, the stairs served as an escape route for hundreds of evacuees from the World Trade Center, a 9-floor building adjacent to the 110-story towers. For many, it was the only route of escape, hence the term "Survivors' Stairs". The worn-out staircase is now an important feature of the Museum. Visitors can also see other structural remnants such as the “Last Column” to be removed from the site, now covered with remembrances from friends and family, and the exposed side of the slurry wall retaining the Hudson River, which remained intact during and after September 11.
An exhibition tells the story of what happened on 9/11, including the events at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the story of Flight 93. This exhibition explores the background leading up to the events and examines their aftermath and continuing implications.
There are portraits and profiles describe the nearly 3,000 people killed by the September 11 attacks and the 1993 trade center bombing, accompanied by spoken remembrances and mementoes contributed by family members, and audio recordings of survivors and first responders.
Adjacent to the museum is the memorial which features two enormous waterfalls and reflecting pools, each about an acre in size, around which are etched in parapets the names of those killed in the attacks. The reflecting pools are surrounded by 400 trees.
Fliers of missing people were posted outside of hospitals in the weeks following Sept. 11, 2001. Photo credit
Artifacts on display from the attack at the Pentagon. Photo credit
A fragment of the fuselage from Flight 11. Photo credit
The Last Column. Photo credit
The front window of Chelsea Jeans, a store that was located on Broadway near Fulton Street at the time of the attack and has since been moved into the museum. Photo credit
The elevator motor that once shuttled workers up to the highest point of the towers. Photo credit
A New York Fire Department ambulance that never made it out of the melee. Photo credit
Part of the radio and television antenna from the North Tower is on display at the exhibit. Photo credit
The Survivor's Stairs. Photo credit
Tridents that once formed part of the exterior structural support of 1 World Trade Center. Photo credit
The letters in this Virgil quotation were forged out of steel from the Towers. Photo credit
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