Learn and Explore from Home | National September 11 Memorial & Museum
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum offers you the opportunity to share in our commitment to commemorate the victims of the 9/11 and 1993 attacks, honor the courage of the first responders, and learn about the attacks and their aftermath through a host of online resources. Explore the 9/11 Memorial Museum through this interactive video experience selecting different paths through the Museum’s vast spaces and exhibitions.
Virtual Tour and Interactive Experiences
9/11 Memorial & Museum Now Offers On-Demand Virtual Tours. These tours provide an engaging way to experience the 9/11 Memorial & Museum on your own schedule. Covering the Museum’s key spaces, this on-demand tour can be purchased via our virtual tours page. Upon purchase, you will have access to the on-demand tour video for 14 days. You can book your on-demand tour today or reserve your spot on other virtual tour offerings provided by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. Perfect for those who can’t visit or maybe aren’t ready to visit the Museum in person, this 60-minute live, interactive tour takes you through the Museum’s key spaces and provides a deeper understanding of 9/11, the lead-up to the attacks, and their continuing global significance. For a different perspective, Google Street View offers a nearly full tour of the cavernous interior for you to check out.
Educational Resources and Digital Learning
The Museum provides numerous ways to learn and explore from home. Search and browse our past Digital Learning Experience archives, featuring past years' programs and participants who share their first-person accounts of the attacks and their aftermath. This interactive program, offered every year on and around the 9/11 anniversary, connects participants with Museum staff and guest speakers to learn about the attacks and the importance of commemoration. To support students and teachers, you may explore a host of inquiry-based lesson plans for K to 12 students and their teachers. Additionally, inspired by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s Activity Stations, these simple, collaborative activities offer step-by-step instructions for you to create your own artwork with materials you have at home.
Special Exhibitions and The Hunt for Bin Laden
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum has just launched its newest virtual tour offering, which provides an exclusive look at the special exhibition, Revealed: The Hunt for Bin Laden. This online collection of stories was adapted from the 9/11 Memorial Museum’s special exhibition Revealed: The Hunt for Bin Laden. The supporting lesson plans explore what the U.S. government knew about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda in the years prior to the 9/11 attacks, and what our government was doing during the nearly 10-year period between 9/11 and the 2011 raid to find bin Laden. Recently, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum welcomed Nelly Lahoud, a senior fellow in New America’s International Security program, to discuss the Abbottabad Papers, hundreds of thousands of pages seized during the U.S. Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in 2011, and what these documents reveal.
Preserving the Collection
The collection houses more than 71,000 items, including three-dimensional objects, ephemera, textiles, artwork, and books and manuscripts. From handwritten notes on scraps of paper to massive beams of World Trade Center steel, each item in the Museum's collection has a unique story to contribute to the narrative of 9/11. In this video series, family members, survivors, first responders, and recovery workers discuss the 9/11 history they are helping to preserve through the material they have shared with the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Furthermore, our conservators face the challenge of preserving significantly damaged objects whose meaning is often found in the damage itself. You can learn more about our conservation efforts in our Mission to Remember video series.
Available Online Resources Summary
| Resource Type | Feature Description |
|---|---|
| On-Demand Virtual Tours | Provides an engaging way to experience the Museum on your own schedule. |
| Interactive Live Tour | A 60-minute tour through key spaces providing a deeper understanding of 9/11 history. | Digital Learning Archives | Features first-person accounts of the attacks and their aftermath. |
| K-12 Lesson Plans | Inquiry-based plans for students and teachers to explore historical narratives. |
| Mission to Remember | Video series detailing the conservation of significantly damaged objects. |
Access Museum resources including interactive timelines, oral histories, digital exhibitions, and 9/11 primary sources to learn more about the February 26, 1993 World Trade Center bombing, 9/11 and its aftermath. The HISTORY Channel will mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11 with four new documentary films exploring the deadly attack and its aftermath in partnership with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. Currently, the Museum is now open five days a week with new health and safety measures in place and ongoing operational changes to ensure a safe Museum experience.
