As millennials, one of the defining moments of our generation has been the 9/11 attacks. This event is something that those of us born in the ‘90’s have seen influence our history books, and our lives. This year, the way in which people around the world remember the Sept. 11 attacks changed with the opening of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
As plans for the 9/11 Museum were underway, the question of “is it too soon?” surfaced in many discussions. After all, it’s been fewer than 15 years since the events of that day. The question of whether it’s too early to memorialize the events of Sept. 11 cannot be answered on a general basis — for some who lost friends or relatives in the attacks, seeing the place where their loved ones died be turned into a tourist attraction is something that is incredibly hard to reconcile, as Buzzfeed writer Steve Kandell so eloquently stated in a May article on the site. For others, the museum is a place of healing and a way to make sure their family members are never forgotten.
Regardless of how one feels about the 9/11 Museum, because of the sensitivity and the recent occurrence of the events being memorialized, special care should be taken by visitors to this ever-growing tourist site to be properly respectful of what happened that day.
I visited the 9/11 Museum this summer, while I was interning in New York City, and I had mixed feelings about doing so. I had been told by several people that it was a “must-see” while I was in New York, although for me the words “must-see” and “national tragedy” are hard to stomach in the same sentence.
What made matters more difficult was that I was working in World Trade Center 7. Although no one was killed in that building, it was destroyed because of damage from the aftermath of the attacks on the Twin Towers. Suddenly, I gained a whole new perspective on an event that had seemed so distant. When I told one of my supervisors where I was going, she responded that she hadn’t been to the museum yet, but responded with “Why would I want to relive the worst day of my life? But have fun guys.”
As I entered the museum, it was exactly like, well, any other museum. The museum does do a nice job of providing a wide variety of information and personal artifacts from the events of Sept. 11, and I believe that it will be a good way for future generations to gain understanding of these events.
However, what shocked me was the behavior of other museum visitors, considering that most of them were alive during these events. There were people on their phones, teenagers taking selfies, couples displaying unnecessary amounts of PDA and tourists discussing where they wanted to get dinner afterwards.
Museums provide visitors with a context with which to view important moments in history. However, this also tends to construct a barrier between visitors and these events from a seemingly distant past. To create a respectful experience for all, visitors to the 9/11 Museum have to be even more conscious not to dismiss the events detailed in the museum as a distant history, considering how many of their friends, acquaintances and even fellow museum-goers were personally affected by them.
Personally, I think that cell phones should be banned in the 9/11 Museum. While photography is prohibited in certain areas, additionally banning cell phone usage will allow visitors to be fully present. But what’s more important is the mindset that visitors bring into the museum.
Visitors need to be mindful of the fact that, no matter what their personal connection is or is not to the museum, for many of their peers, this place brings up a lot of painful memories. Again, considering how brief of a period it was between the 9/11 attacks and the opening of the museum, this museum holds a unique place in history. Furthermore, as the museum serves as a vault of information on the Sept. 11 attack, it will help dictate how future generations comprehend these events.
If we want to make sure those who lost their lives during the attacks are not forgotten, the easy way to do so is to build a museum. The harder way, but the more important way, is to make sure that an air of respect is continually maintained around what happened on Sept. 11, 2001. As members of our generation will be be the ones mainly flocking to the museum in the coming years, it’s up to us to continually maintain that sense of respect in such a significant place.