I remember the Oklahoma City bombing. I was in middle school when the news broke, and although I didn’t fully understand the scope of what had happened, I remember the image of the federal building’s collapsed side flashing across the TV. I remember the teddy bears and the yellow ribbons. I remember feeling shocked that this had just happened.
Thirty years later, I stood at the edge of the reflecting pool where that building once stood. The air was still. On one side, 9:01 is etched into a towering black granite gate—the minute before the bombing. On the other, 9:03 is etched into a towering black granite gate—the minute after. In between: a mirror-like pool of water where visitors stand in silence, watching the reflections ripple.
Before the anniversary, I visited Oklahoma City in February to explore the city for the first time. I didn’t expect to be so affected by the memorial or so impressed by what OKC has become. This is a city that remembers, but it’s also actively building something new.
Visiting the Oklahoma City Memorial and Museum: What to expect 30 years later
The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum is emotionally powerful in a way that stays with you. The outdoor memorial, built on the former Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building site, is beautifully haunting: 168 empty chairs stand in rows, lit from below at night, each representing a life lost on April 19, 1995. The smaller chairs represent the 19 children who died that day in the building’s daycare center. Some of the names etched into the glass backs of the chairs match the ones I still remember from the news…