An exhibition focused on the impact of attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001 takes place now until September 13 at the Aurora Regional Fire Museum in downtown Aurora.
The exhibition entitled “America United: the days after September 11” was created by the Children’s Museum of Oak Lawn who, according to Brian Failliing, Executive Director of the Regional Fire Museum of Aurora, “contacted us and proposed to share the exhibition”.
The display has parts of two metal beams recovered from the World Trade Center website in New York which was attacked on September 11, 2001.
Although the exhibition includes a calendar of the events of the day, it focuses on what came after: emotions, resilience and unity acts that followed, according to a press release on display.
Two interactive tables encourage visitors to the exhibition to reflect on the themes of compassion, the community and what it means to be American, the statement said.
Failure said that the new exhibition is one of the most powerful that the museum has ever presented.
“It goes a different turn, a different dimension on September 11, something that is really significant for all our visitors, whether they were touched by him or too young to remember,” said failure. “There is something to see the beams and have a conversation on this day.”
The pieces of the beams themselves are not too large, failing, said: “But the weight is substantial.”
A special reception ceremony took place on Monday at 2 p.m. on Monday, when members of the Aurora fire and police services escorted the exhibition at the museum, where it was received by the Honorary Guard of the Aurora Fire Service.
“It’s so hardy to see it and how something we know come from the World Trade Center and see how it is twisted-words cannot even describe it,” he said.
“It’s really powerful. It really shows how important physical artefacts are for museums and the simple fact of showing and remembering,” he said on Tuesday. “For me, when it happened, I was in the fourth year and I was perhaps 9 years old. Yesterday, I looked at him with my daughter who was only 3 years old and I was just thinking – I was in fourth year and I remembered where I was. It is incredible to see how objects can just talk about these memories.”
Jim Levicki, director of the public security media and information responsible for the Aurora police service, said that the exhibition, although small, is “impressive when you see it”.
“It’s pretty cool to see a piece of history,” he said. “When I was there on Monday, I turned to one of the firefighters and asked,” Are you working on September 11? ” And he said he was a high school student.
“It is important that people never forget the things that happened that day and the impact they had on the country to move forward,” added Levicki. “Everyone just had a moment of break when they saw it and did what it was exactly.”
Over the weeks, failure said he hoped that visitors will live “the power of the artifacts and having this direct play in history”.
“We always say:” We will never forget “, but it is also all the things that the exhibition can transmit and the stories it can tell and the conversations that can be had,” he said.
The Aurora Regional Fire Museum is 53 N. Broadway in Aurora and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to Tuesday to Saturday.
For more information on the exhibition, go to www.auroragionalfiremuseum.org/.
David Sharos is an independent journalist for the Beacon-News.
