Better Conversations: Preserving Memories Then & Now

Objects and stories are linked and have the profound power to connect us to people, places, and moments in time. Before there was a Memorial or a Museum, there was Jane Thomas, who understood the importance of preserving artifacts, from chunks of rubble and lost keys to the fire chief’s helmet. This was the start of the Memorial Archives that now houses over two million items, a collection that tells a multi-faceted story. It echoes of lives lived, taken by the senselessness of violence, and a testament to the enduring spirit of a community united by tragedy and the hope that emerged from the response.

Join us as we consider how we preserve memories that shape public memory as well as the stories that define each one of us and our families. For the first time ever, Jane will join our current archive team, led by Skye Conley and Hanna Cox, in a Better Conversations session about the important work of preserving objects and oral histories so that the following generations can learn the lessons of April 19, 1995.

Register to reserve your seat and a complimentary boxed lunch, available at 11:30am when the doors open. The program will run from 12:00 to 1:00pm.

Made possible by the Kirkpatrick Foundation.