Fresh from the Smithsonian Institution, this notification of a new display of objects collected regarding a remembrance of September 9/11. This will be a short display only lasting until September 11th at the National Museum of American History.
The museum will mark the 10-year anniversary of Sept. 11 with a unique display of objects Sept. 3 to Sept. 11 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. “September 11: Remembrance and Reflection” will provide visitors with a close-up view of more than 50 objects from New York, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pa., as well as new acquisitions from the Transportation Security Administration.
To create an intimate experience for visitors, the objects will be shown on tables rather than behind glass. Objects include airplane fragments, a crushed FDNY fire truck door, a Pentagon building map and various objects recovered from offices. Photos from the museum’s collection provide context.
Some are ordinary objects — a window shade and seat belt from the wreckage of United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville. Some are ordinary but became extraordinary. Jan Demczur, a window washer at the World Trade Center, donated his squeegee handle to the museum. On Sept. 11, he was stuck in an elevator with five other men in one of the towers. He used the handle to force open the elevator door and then dig through the wall. All six were saved.
There is a crushed firetruck door from Brooklyn Squad 1, one of the first responders to the fiery scene at the twin towers.
Also displayed are smaller, but equally telling items: a postcard that a traveler mailed just before getting on one of the hijacked planes, a doll found in the rubble in New York, a log book from a flight attendant on Flight 93 and a beige corridor map of the Pentagon that hung close to where American Airlines Flight 77 hit the building.
In December 2001, Congress named the National Museum of American History the nation’s official repository for artifacts related to Sept. 11, 2001. Since the attacks, the museum staff has been collecting memorabilia.
As part of an ongoing collection effort, the museum will accept objects from TSA into the collection during a special ceremony. The display will feature video excerpts from the Smithsonian Channel documentary, 9/11: Stories in Fragments, and a video ABC News made for the museum on the one-year anniversary.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
