Memorial Fence Virtual Exhibit
Unlocking Memories—Heartbreak Woven Into Wire is a reminder of a line in the Memorial Mission Statement that states this Memorial should teach us the brutality of the attack and the tenderness of the response. These items are all very personal and represent many individuals, families, friends, teams, choirs and entertainers from around the world that made their pilgrimage to Oklahoma City to remember and to learn as they left a piece of themselves behind woven into the wire.
The three padlocks were on the three gates that had been installed for President Bill and First Lady Hillary Clinton’s visit to this hallowed ground on Good Friday, April 5, two weeks before the first anniversary in April 1996. The President and the First Lady walked this sacred space with the six surviving children of America’s Kids Day Care.
From the perimeter Fence of the bomb site to this the Fence that was placed around the footprint of the building, this wire became a place for visitors to this site to leave reflections and heartbreak woven into wire. The padlocks were removed from the Fence on October 25, 1998, the day after the Groundbreaking of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. On that Monday night, Richard Williams, the Assistant Manager of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, removed these locks from the temporary Fence and gates.
To begin construction of the Memorial on October 26, 1998, key stakeholders—including family members, survivors and first responders—helped move a section of the Fence to the west side of the Memorial site, where it has stood since.
In preparation for the 30th anniversary of the bombing, longtime supporter Inasmuch Foundation gifted the Memorial a team of college fellows working alongside a project manager and the Memorial Archives Team to catalog and study the 30 years of the Fence Collection. Interestingly, these fellows were not even born in 1995; these artifacts are helping teach many about the impact of violence.
