At its annual conference in Atlanta this week, the American Alliance of Museums recognized the 9/11 Memorial Museum with its highest award for exhibition achievement. Museum staff accepted the Excellence in Exhibition award, recognizing outstanding achievement in the exhibition format of the Museum’s interstitial spaces. 

In addition, from a field of more than 200 applicants, the Museum was awarded five MUSE Awards from the American Alliance of Museums Media and Technology Professional Network. These awards recognize outstanding achievement in the use of digital media to enhance the visitor experience and engage audiences.

The Museum received two silver awards: one in the Applications and APIs category for the Timescape and another in the interactive kiosks category for the signing steel interactive; as well as three honorable mentions for the audio alcoves in the historical exhibition, the Witnessing History audio guide tour and Reflecting on 9/11 and Recording Studio.

The Museum is extremely honored to be recognized by our colleagues for the efforts we expended to craft a meaningful and lasting visitor experience.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

Thank you to everyone who participated on Sunday, April 26 in our third annual 5K Run/Walk and Family Day event. View a photo gallery of the event here.

More than 4,000 people participated in this year’s 5K and thousands attended our Family Day following the race. Family Day included performances from the West Point Band and the American Bombshells and fun activities like the NYPD rock wall. Also joining at Family Day were community partners such as Tails of Hope, New York Says Thank You and Tuesday’s Children.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum would like to thank the NYPD, PAPD and FDNY for their support and participation as volunteers and runners. We also wish to express gratitude to all of our sponsors, including RXR Realty for serving as our title sponsor and Under Armour for being our T-shirt sponsor.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

The 9/11 Memorial plaza is one of the most sustainable plazas ever constructed, designed to conserve energy, water and other resources.

Rainwater is collected in storage tanks below the plaza surface and the tanks supply water for the nearly 400 trees and vegetation. With hundreds of trees, the plaza is an actual green roof for the 9/11 Memorial Museum located below it. The plaza was built to meet requirements of New York State Executive Order 111, as well as WTC Sustainable Design Guidelines, both of which promote environmentally friendly practices.

The memorial’s urban forest is close by to other green spaces, including Battery Park City, City Hall Park and Liberty Plaza.

The American Society of Landscape Architects describes the Memorial on its website as a “massive green roof – a fully constructed ecology – that operates on top of multiple structures. … The plaza surface-and-drainage infrastructure is designed to function as a large self-sustaining cistern. Water from rainfall and snow melt is channeled into large holding tanks and re-used to support the Memorial forest via a specialized drip-and-spray irrigation system.”

Read more about the Memorial's design.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

After registering for the annual 9/11 Memorial 5K Run/Walk, participants can start fundraising for a chance to win prizes.

Set up a page as an individual or team and share the link with family and friends to fundraise through April 23. The 5K Run/Walk is April 26.

The highest fundraiser will earn a weekend stay at the Conrad New York Hotel. The second highest receives a year-long membership to Crunch gym and the third highest is awarded with a 10-class SoulCycle pass.

Official contest rules are available on our website. All proceeds support the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Participants in the contest must be at least 18 years old as of March 26, 2015.

By Jordan Friedman, 9/11 Memorial Research and Digital Projects Associate

As part of National Volunteer Week, students from various high schools in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens volunteered to ID tag more than 150 trees on the 9/11 Memorial plaza last weekend.

For the first time since the Memorial opened, every tree within the plaza now has a unique tag number to indicate its precise location, meaning that those who sponsor cobblestones will be able to more easily find their stones on the Memorial.

“I didn’t expect to enjoy tagging trees so much,” says Belkis Sosa, one of the volunteers. “I learned a few facts about trees, as well as some of the plans for the Museum’s future in the next few years.”

You can view a map on our website of the cobblestones on the plaza with the names of the sponsors and the nearest tree listed for each.

Read more about what the Museum is doing to honor National Volunteer Week. You can also learn more about the summer session for Visitor Services volunteers, open to high school or college students.

By Jordan Friedman, 9/11 Memorial Research and Digital Projects Associate

The 9/11 Memorial will honor National Volunteer Week with an information table on the Memorial plaza, live talks given by Museum docents and special activities for our volunteers.

From Sunday, April 12 through Saturday, April 18, a tent on the Memorial plaza will be open to the public to highlight the volunteer programs offered at the Memorial and Museum. In addition, on each weekday at noon, a Museum docent volunteer will discuss an artifact and their service experience during live talks, part of the Museum’s “The Stories They Tell” series. This is free for all ticketed Museum visitors.

Volunteers for the 9/11 Memorial will also have an opportunity to attend a thank you ceremony, a special talk on the development of volunteer programs in the wake of tragedy, and a New York Mets game.

Click here to learn more about volunteering at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

By Jordan Friedman, 9/11 Memorial Research and Digital Projects Associate

Beginning April 21, 2015, a new 45-minute guided tour will be offered at the 9/11 Memorial. The tour, which takes place on the Memorial plaza, will focus on the symbolism behind the Memorial’s design, the historical significance of the World Trade Center, and the events of 9/11.

Available daily, the tours are conducted in English and cost $15. Click here for times and to register for a Memorial guided tour.

Please note, the Memorial is free and open to the public daily from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum also offers 60-minute guided tours, as well as a tour conducted in American Sign Language and an audio guide app. Learn more about tour options and prices in the Museum here.

By Jordan Friedman, 9/11 Memorial Research and Digital Projects Associate

The people of Oklahoma have known tragedy beyond their worst nightmares. Yet their faith is so strong nothing can break their spirit.

We have had the privilege of knowing a group who survived the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995 and they have been a source of strength and healing in our own struggles to make peace with our 9/11 tragedy in New York City. As we attended one other’s remembrance ceremonies over the years, we have formed a bond much like a family in closeness. We have cried together. We have companioned our sorrow.

When this latest tornado hit Oklahoma, my heart skipped as I worried about "my family" there. I would learn they were thankfully uninjured as they hunkered down in storm shelters.

Others were not as fortunate.My friends said, “The devastation is tremendous.

Entire blocks destroyed. It's about a 2 mile wide area. It was hit hard. So many died and some of them babies.”

When I asked what I could do to help, they said what they have always said: “Pray for us.” Some of us may diminish or undervalue the power of prayer. Some of us even shy away from saying the words “God bless you.” I have come to know that telling many Okies you will pray for them is considered the highest form of human kindness. So pray for them and let them know you are praying for them. And then, pray some more.

By Ronaldo Vega

Vega is the director of design and construction for the 9/11 Memorial

I had the privilege of giving Mayor Ed Koch a tour of the 9/11 Memorial a couple of months before its opening in September 2011.

I had never seen anyone else who toured the site receive a warmer welcome from a multitude of construction workers. They all wanted to have their picture taken with him. 

It was a hot and muggy July morning.  But the mayor patiently and warmly greeted every well-wisher, and posed for multiple cell phone pictures. People reacted to him with so much familiarity and love, like a beloved uncle or grandfather. He was New York.

 By Michael Arad

Michael Arad is a partner at Handel Architects. He worked as a New York City Housing Authority architect before winning the competition to design the 9/11 Memorial. He has worked on several major projects, including a mixed-use skyscraper in Hong Kong and a 37-story tower in Miami.

9/11 Memorial President and CEO Joe Daniels directs planning, construction, development and operations for the 9/11 Memorial. Through his work, he is honored to meet many of the families, colleagues and friends, of the nearly 3,000 9/11 victims. Daniels will share his personal experiences at the memorial, and much more, in the “Thank You for Visiting” series on the MEMO blog.

The 9/11 Memorial welcomes many active and retired U.S. military service members. I have been included in reenlistment ceremonies and watched as many received medals for their duty and patriotism. These men and women deserve our gratitude and a promise that they will always be honored and remembered at this sacred place.

In honor of Veterans Day, I attended a wreath-laying ceremony near the Survivor Tree. Representatives for the United War Veterans Council, the Wounded Warriors Project, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the Vietnam Veterans Association gathered on the memorial plaza to thank this country’s veterans for their service. I was fortunate to address and stand beside these men and women, including those on the memorial staff who have served.

Yellow ribbons were distributed to more than 100 veterans and their families who attended the ceremony. Veterans on the memorial staff led the way as each ribbon was tied to the Survivor Tree, serving as a reminder that we must come together to support U.S. troops and a soldier’s safe return home. The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, prompted many men and women across the country to join the military and answer a call to action. Veterans Day is a time to reflect on the selflessness of their decision and thank them for keeping this country safe.

Thank you for visiting.

By Joe Daniels, 9/11 Memorial President and CEO