NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The Virginia War Museum is marking 25 years since the Sept. 11 attacks with a new photograph exhibit that takes visitors through the before and after of one of the most defining moments in American history.
The exhibit, called "25 Years in Focus," opens with photographs of the World Trade Center prior to the attacks. As visitors move through, the images progress to the immediate aftermath and conclude with the memorials that emerged in the days and weeks that followed.
"This really does show folks the before and after of the World Trade Center in 9/11," said Michael Moore, curator for Newport News Museums, which includes the Virginia War Museum.
Moore said the exhibit serves both those who lived through the attacks and those who did not.
"With anything in the past, folks that weren't there can learn more about it and also those that experienced it or had family members that experienced it, they can share their memories because that's what the War Museum's about," Moore said.
The photographs were taken by Vernon L. Carter, a photographer who was on a job assignment in New York shortly after the attack and walked down to Ground Zero to capture the images.
"I hope they will be able to remember those that were lost and remember how our world changed," Moore said.
The exhibit also includes a section where visitors can share their own memories of Sept. 11. Those recollections will become part of the museum's archive and may potentially be used on social media.
Jamie Mesrobian, Museum Education Coordinator, shared her own memory of that day.
"I was 14 and I was volunteering at a mothers of preschoolers group when I heard the sonic boom from the Langley jets, and I've never experienced a sonic boom before," Mesrobian said.
The exhibit runs from Sept. 11 through the end of October and is included in the price of admission.
"I can't believe it's been 25 years, and it's also even hard to just reconcile with there are so many people in the world now that were born after that happened and didn't know what life was like before," Mesrobian said.
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