09/12/2026
My 8th grader and I visited the 9/11 Museum earlier this year, and because I’m mediocre at documenting our travels, it seems like an appropriate time to reflect and share this portion of our trip. I cannot begin to explain what a beautifully curated collection this is. A few of the most moving pieces for me:
The Vesey Street stairs (The “Survivor Stairs”) at the Northernmost edge of the World Trade Center Plaza withstood the collapse on 9/11. The stairs were called the path to freedom by North Tower survivor, Kayla Bergeron.
The 36-foot tall steel beam from the South Tower (“The Last Column”). George Luis Torres, FDNY Squad 41, asked Brian Lyons, a construction manager on site and the brother of fellow Squad 41 Firefighter Michael Lyons missing since 9/11, to help him mark the location on an exposed beam. They sprayed SQ 41 in yellow paint on the column to indicate the exact spot where they located traces of their men. This column became a symbol of loss and remembrance that was ceremoniously removed May 2002 to mark the end of the 8.5 month recovery efforts.
The Slurry Wall (“The Bathtub”). An engineering marvel. 3-foot thick, 70-foot high reinforced concrete walls that held back the Hudson River. These waterproof walls contained a 16 acre site including the World Trade Center Plaza. If this wall broke, recovery efforts may not have been successful.
The dozens of voicemails left for loved ones.
We spent 4 hours at this museum (most of it without dry eyes) and it simply wasn’t enough. Learning about the attacks on 9/11 through a textbook doesn’t hold the gravity you feel walking through the rooms of memorabilia.
