Oklahoma City National Memorial
The Oklahoma City National Memorial is comprised of two distinct components that go hand in hand in educating about the senselessness of terrorism and violence.
The Outdoor Symbolic Memorial is a beautiful 3.3 acre site in the heart of downtown Oklahoma City. The Memorial has transformed the original site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and also encompasses what once was Fifth Street, the former Journal Record Newspaper Building and five other parcels of land that were located just to the north of the bombed building. Today, you will greeted by the Gates of Time, and learn the story through symbolic elements including a Field of Empty Chairs, A Reflecting Pool, the Survivor Tree, the Rescuers' Orchard, the Survivor Wall, a Children's Area and the fence that originally protected the crime scene which even today gathers objects of remembrance and hope. This site is meant to be symbolic and reflective and visitors are encouraged to go into the Museum to learn the facts and the personal stories of how horror has been transformed by hope. This Memorial conveys the impact of violence and also offers visitors comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.
The Memorial was dedicated on the fifth anniversary of the bombing by President William J. Clinton on April 19, 2000.
The Memorial Museum is a 50,000 square foot, highly interactive Museum which tells the story of what happened on that beautiful spring morning in the capitol city of Oklahoma. You will walk through that morning and see the sights and hear the sounds of what the people in Oklahoma City and Oklahoma have worked to overcome. You will hear the sound of the bomb, hear from the investigators, the rescuers, survivors and from family members who lost loved ones. You will experience the Lessons Learned from the Oklahoma City bombing and leave knowing that the world holds far more good than bad. The Museum is a tribute that in no way diminishes the tragedy, but rather offers an inspiring contrast between the brutality of the evil and the tenderness of the response.
The Memorial Museum was dedicated by President George and Mrs. Laura Bush on President's Day, February 19, 2001.
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