The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is marking the 25th anniversary of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing with a series of installations and events that began Thursday.
The attack, which killed six and injured more than a thousand on Feb. 26, 1993, and its aftermath will be explained in a monthlong series called “Remembering the 1993 Bombing at the World Trade Center.”
On view until March 5, the exhibition begins with a 3-and-a-half by 5-and-a-half foot installation of the building’s parking garage — the epicenter of the bomb detonation that occurred in a rental van, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The model, which also was used for the investigation following the attack, resembles the nearly 150-feet and several-story deep crater left behind by the explosion, according to organizers.
“We invite the public to join us during the month of February as we mark this historic milestone in remembrance of those killed, to honor the courage of those who responded, and in recognition of those who survived,” Alice Greenwald, president of the museum, said in a statement.
On the anniversary of the attack, the families of the six victims who died — John DiGiovanni, Robert Kirkpatrick, Stephen Knapp, William Macko, Wilfredo Mercado and Monica Rodriguez Smith, who was seven months pregnant, according to a tribute written by her husband — will read their names aloud in the 9/11 Memorial Plaza. Other participants include those who escaped, such as Lolita Jackson, who also survived the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In her story, which was published in “It’s a God Thing: When Miracles Happen to Everyday People,” Jackson wrote that the experience “served as folklore to share with new employees in the years that followed.”
Other events in the commemoration include an American Sign Language performance detailing stories of the attack through poetry and songs slated for Feb. 9, and a speech on Feb. 22 explaining the prosecution of the six bombers by Mary Jo White, former U.S. attorney and supervisor of the investigation.
The FBI later learned that the mission of the attack was to topple the Twin Towers, a vision later realized by one of the bombers’ uncle, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who successfully planned the 9/11 attacks, the federal agency reported.
“By sharing the history of the 1993 attack and its far-reaching repercussions, as well as the stories of the family members of those killed and the thousands of survivors through our special programming, we will educate many who have no lived memory of the attack and ensure that this history will never be forgotten,” Clifford Channin, executive vice president of the museum, said in a statement.
