9/11 Museum Artifacts

In an effort to continue to shine a light on the personal experiences of the victims and survivors of these tragic historical events, the 9/11 Museum continues to actively amass materials for its permanent collection.

The 'Give To The Collection' initiative encourages people to donate materials such as photographs, videotapes, voice messages, recovered property, clothing and other personal effects, workplace memorabilia, incident-specific documents, and original writings including letters, emails, and diaries. You can simply fill out the “Give To The Collection” form along with personal details and the significance of the relic, and the museum will add your item to its permanent collection.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum's Oral Histories archive is one of the largest and most diverse collections of the 2001 and 1993 bombing testimonies in the world. The museum conducts its own interviews and also actively continues to collect testimonies. The museum adds to its collection by documenting the history of these tragedies through recorded interviews with responders, survivors, family members of the victims, and others deeply affected by the attacks at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

You can also find edited segments drawn from a collection of more than 1,000 of these recorded oral interviews online. These moving snippets are also contextualized for better understanding.

Protecting and preserving the life of these sacred artifacts for posterity is of utmost importance and the number one priority at the 9/11 Museum. For this very reason, the team employs methods of preventive conservation, where the conservators have a unique responsibility to preserve objects that have been significantly damaged and to keep that nature intact because what gives meaning to these several different objects is often found in the damage itself.

For example, the team works to preserve the damage done from the 9/11 attacks to a fire station ladder while tribute items that come in pristine condition are kept the way they came. The team also periodically takes objects off of view from the exhibition in order to extend its lifespan.