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September 11, 2001, was a day unlike any other in history, and it was clear from the beginning that the 9/11 Memorial Museum would be an institution unlike any other in the world. No memorial or museum of its size has ever been constructed so soon after, and at the same site as, the events out of which it arose. Because of that, the Museum preserves history that is still being shaped. It is a place where people come to heal, but also learn about past in order to better understand the present and future. the When our Administration entered City Hall on January 1, 2002, cleanup and recovery operations at the World Trade Center site were still underway. We vowed to do everything possible to help create a fitting memorial and museum to honor those who had died, and to teach future generations about what happened. It wasn't an easy road. With so much riding on every decision and so many different people weighing in, key facets of the project moved slowly, costs swelled, and people began to lose hope that a memorial and museum would ever be built. By 2006, it became clear that the project needed renewed focus, direction, and clarity. That's why, when I agreed to serve as Chairman of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, our first overarching goal was to open the Memorial in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks. To reach that goal, we rallied public and philanthropic support, and we worked hard to build consensus around various design considerations. When family members entered the Memorial Plaza for the first time in 2011 and saw the names of their loved ones inscribed in bronze around two beautiful memorial pools, it was a deeply gratifying day, and also a major milestone. But our work was not over-the 9/11 Memorial Museum was not yet finished. The rebuilding of the World Trade Center site was one of the most complicated construction projects in the history of the world, involving the governments of two states, the federal government, and the public and private sectors. At the same time the Memorial and Museum were being planned, multiple skyscrapers were being built on the site, including the hemisphere's tallest building, One World Trade Center—as well as two major transit centers with two working railroads running through them. The site had to be refortified against the Hudson River and protected against any future security threats. Work on the design and content of the Museum had progressed largely in parallel to the work on the Memorial. However, the intricacies of construction and negotiations over long-term governance meant that the Museum would have to open later. Our team, led by 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels and Museum Director Alice Greenwald, took advantage of the time to refine the Museum's design, content, and use of technology. We aimed to set a new standard for public engagement and historical interpretation. Because the attacks of 9/11 are still so recent, the Museum can and does incorporate, perhaps more than any other historical institution, the firsthand accounts of people living today. It also includes real-time recordings-from television, radio, the Internet, and other mediums-on a scale that has never been attempted before, giving visitors a sense of how people around the world experienced 9/11. For those who lived through the day, and those too young to remember it, the Museum strives to make sure that the lessons we learned, and the people we lost, are never forgotten. The collection of objects and artifacts, many of which are featured in the photos and essays in this book for the first time, is the heart of the institution. It is the result of painstakingly hard work that has been supported by people throughout America and around the world. Friends and family members who lost loved ones on 9/11 donated objects of immeasurable personal value. First responders, elected officials, and people from all