Refreshing memories at 9/11 Memorial, Museum

In the time past, tour brokers around the world woo intended visitors to the United States of America with wonderful tourism attractions that are worth seeing anytime of the year. The visitors or rather tourists, enjoyed the best of sightseeing from the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Lincoln Memorial, Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C, the USS Arizona Memorial in Honolulu among others.

Today, it is sad that The 9/11 Memorial and Museum is now top among attractions tour brokers recommend to willing visitors to the United States. The 9/11 Memorial Museum honors the memory of those killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the February 26, 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

The reality is that since the museum opened its doors to visitors in 2011, it has hosted over 12 million people from across the world that came to hear the story of the events of 9/11 through authentic artifacts, first-person accounts and multimedia displays.

Located within the archaeological heart of the World Trade Center site, the museum offers 110,000 square feet of exhibition space and tells the story of 9/11 through multimedia displays, archives, narratives and a collection of monumental and authentic artifacts. At the museum, the lives of every victim of the 2001 and 1993 attacks are commemorated as visitors have the opportunity to learn about the men, women, and children who died. In doing so, it aspires to educate the millions of people expected to visit the World Trade Center each year in hopes of building a better future.

Moreover, there are two main exhibition spaces. In Memoriam, the memorial exhibition located on the footprint of the South Tower, commemorates the 2,983 men, women, and children killed in the 9/11 attacks and the bombing of the World Trade Center in February 1993, honoring them for how they lived their lives rather than for how they died. The historical exhibition, located on the footprint of the North Tower, examines the day of the attacks, what preceded them, and how 9/11 continues to shape the world.

As well, there is a Museum Collection that houses more than 10,313 artifacts, including 2,136 archival documents and 37 large artifacts like first responder vehicles and monumental steel that are already on site.

The collection also includes photographs, audio and video, personal effects and memorabilia, expressions of tribute and remembrance, recorded testimonies and digital files and websites related to the history of the World Trade Center, the events of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993, and the repercussions of these seismic attacks. More than 2,900 artifact donors have given to the museum collection and more than 1,970 oral histories have been recorded.

In the same vein, the In Memoriam exhibition honors the 2,983 victims with biographies and profiles, portraits, spoken remembrances and mementoes contributed by family members.

However, history was made on September 25, 2015 when Pope Francis visited the 9/11 memorial site in New York City. On that day, the world and visitors to the memorial watched as the Pope led a multi-religious meeting for peace, during which he prayed and delivered an address to the millions upon millions who were excited to hear what he had to say.

Of course, Pope Francis ‘address was centered on tolerance and peaceful co-existence of the people of the world despite their colour, race, religion or country.

But one man who was in attendance at this moving and awe-inspiring event is Michael R. Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City. Pope’s visit truly meant a great deal to Bloomberg personally, as former mayor of the city where so many were personally affected by the tragedy of that day. Bloomberg has also played a major role in the development of the 9/11 memorial—including donating $US10 million toward its creation and serving as chairman of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation since 2006.

As much as Pope Francis keeps praying for peaceful co-existence of the people of the world and religious tolerance, Michael R. Bloomberg also urges more people to visit the museum.

OBINNA EMELIKE