The 9/11 Memorial & Museum Presents Its Exhibition Program for the 25th Anniversary

A Program Focused on Memory and the Legacies of 9/11

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum has unveiled an exhibition program to accompany the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. According to the institution’s reference document, this program is part of a broader set of initiatives planned throughout 2026. It brings together exhibitions that are already open, new presentations announced for August and September, and a series of public programs devoted to the historical, civic, cultural, and human dimensions of the anniversary.

The program highlights several ways of understanding the post-9/11 period: national symbols, the role of sport, artistic and educational responses, and the legacy of service inspired by the attacks. The museum also states that its 2026 public programs will bring historians, policymakers, veterans, clinicians, journalists, artists, and members of the 9/11 community into conversation, placing the commemoration within a memorial, documentary, and civic framework.

Two Exhibitions Already Open

Among the exhibitions already accessible, Our Flag Was Still There presents American flags and flag-related objects as symbols of strength in adversity. This theme emphasizes how a familiar object can become, in the context of collective trauma, a medium of recognition, unity, and continuity. The exhibition therefore presents the flag not only as a national emblem, but also as a sign of resilience in the face of the attacks.

The other exhibition already open, The World’s Game: Soccer and 9/11, explores soccer as a passion capable of crossing languages, cultures, and borders. Through this subject, the museum addresses an international and shared dimension of human experience after the attacks. Soccer appears as a common language, a ground for connection, and a way to observe how a global sport can resonate with the memory of 9/11.

Two Openings Announced for August and September 2026

The 2026 calendar then calls for the August opening of Responding in Ink: Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and 9/11. This exhibition will examine how comic book and graphic novel writers and artists responded to the attacks and helped educate audiences about them. The museum thus places comics and graphic novels within the history of cultural forms that have sought to represent, explain, or transmit the event after 2001.

In September 2026, the museum will open In Their Honor: 25 Years of 9/11-Inspired Service. This exhibition will explore the lasting legacy of service inspired by 9/11. Its title and subject point to a focus on commitments that emerged in the wake of the attacks, as well as on how those commitments have continued over twenty-five years. It complements the other parts of the program by addressing not only memory, but also action undertaken in honor of the victims and the affected community.

Public Programs Throughout 2026

Beyond the exhibitions, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum has announced a series of public programs spread across 2026. These events will bring together historians, policymakers, veterans, clinicians, journalists, artists, and members of the 9/11 community. The diversity of the profiles cited suggests an intent to approach the anniversary from multiple perspectives: history, public policy, military experience, health, media narratives, artistic creation, and the direct lived experience of those affected.

This public programming accompanies the exhibitions by providing a space for discussion and analysis with speakers from different fields. It connects the objects on display, the works, the cultural practices, and the commitments to service with broader conversations about the memory of the attacks. In the context of a 25th anniversary, these formats also offer a way to transmit the facts and their consequences to audiences who did not all directly experience the events of 2001.

The September 11, 2026 Ceremony

The museum’s document also recalls that the September 11, 2026 ceremony will include the reading of the names of the 2,983 people killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 bombing. This detail connects the exhibition and public program schedule to the central commemorative act of the anniversary: naming the victims. The reading of the names thus remains the point of convergence between the thematic exhibitions, the public programs, and the memorial mission of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.