Exhibition Review

Permanent exhibition, opened Feb. 19, 2001. M–Sa 9–6, Su 1–6, except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day; adults $7, seniors 62 and over $6, students $5, children 5 and under free (group rates available). 22,000 sq. ft. Douglas Group, exhibit designers; Exhibits Concepts, Inc., fabrication and installation; Hillmann and Carr, Inc., media production; museum staff and volunteers, exhibit development; Kari Watkins, executive director.

School classroom resources available.

Internet: information on items held in archives, design of museum, visitor information, and volunteer opportunities <http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org> (Sept. 29, 2002).

We come here to remember those who were killed,

those who survived and those changed forever.

May all who leave here know the impact of violence.

May this memorial offer comfort,

strength, peace, hope and serenity.

—Preamble to the Oklahoma City National

Memorial mission statement

Housed in the bomb-damaged Journal Record Building, the Oklahoma City National Memorial Center Museum tells the story of the April 19, 1995, terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and its aftermath. It is a searing account of horror and loss told by family members of those who died, survivors, and rescuers—all of whom played a major role in shaping the memorial's mission and the visitor experience.	1
The museum is adjacent to the outdoor symbolic memorial, which stands in the footprint of the destroyed Murrah Federal Building and includes a field of 168 bronze and glass chairs honoring those who died, the survivors' tree (an American elm that withstood the bomb's blast), the rescuers' orchard, and a reflecting pool that offers the visitor a glimpse of one "changed forever." It is, however, the museum exhibition that tells the essential story of the human experience of the terrorist attack. Personal experiences of those most directly affected by this act of domestic terrorism are told by text, video, and interactive computer stations throughout the exhibition. It is through these stories and the unforgettable images of the carnage and destruction that the visitor learns the "impact of violence."	2
The human experience of terrorism, whether domestic or foreign, connects the local and personal story to the broader national context. "A Shared Experience," which explored the commonalities between the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and the Oklahoma City bombing, was exhibited throughout the summer in the museum's temporary gallery. That exhibition, which included objects on loan from the Museum of the City of New York and the New York Police Department, focused on the shared experiences of terror, grief, courage, and compassion and recognized the nine New York City urban search and rescue team members who had participated in the Oklahoma City rescue efforts and who died in the World Trade Center.	. . .