The Other Museums
Key Facts:
1. The 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City was widely criticized for its gift shop and it has been operating at an annual loss.
2. The Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania is a National Park. It is not run by a non-profit.
3. Las Vegas responded to what is not the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history with building a volunteer garden and park.
NY Daily News: "The "pay to grieve" 9/11 Museum is a National Disgrace" by Sally Regenhard
Washington Post: "The 9/11 Memorial Museum doesn’t just display artifacts, it ritualizes grief on a loop" by Gio Benitez
Washington Post: "Families infuriated by ‘crass commercialism’ of 9/11 Museum gift shop" by Abby Phillip
Slate: "How to Honor the Dead We Cannot Name, The Problems with the September 11 Memorial Museum" by Charles B. Strozier and Scott Gabriel
LA Times: "Architecture Review: At 9/11 Memorial Museum, a Relentless Literalism" by Christopher Hawthorne
Pacific Standard: "9/11 Memorial: Ground Zero as Dark Tourist Site" by Michael T. Luongo
The Atlantic: "A Tradition of Conflict and Controversy at Ground Zero" by Elizabeth Greenspan
NBC News: "9/11 Museum Opens to Outrage over Gift Shop, Cocktail Reception" (video)
ABC News: Why Victims' Families Are Furious About 9/11 Memorial Museum (video)
NY Post: 9/11 Memorial Loses $25 Million in First Full Year by Susan Edelman
CNN: 9/11 Memorial Gift Shop Sparks Outrage with Some Families by Kristin Hamill
CNN: The 9/11 Museum and Controversy (video)
USA Today: Opening of 9/11 Museum Won't Silence Critics by Rick Hampson
Huffington Post: "The 9/11 Memorial Museum, Appealing to the Head or to the Heart?" by Todd Green
NPR: "Amid Controversy, 9/11 Memorial Opens its Doors" by Joel Rose
NPR: "Would you Buy a 9/11 Keychain? Memorial Gift Shop Makes Some Cringe."
Parade: 9/11 Memorial Museum's Admission Fee, Gift Shop Spark Controversy by Lindsay Lowe
BBC: "9/11 Gift Shop, Hoodies and Anger" by Anthony Zurcher
The Week: 9/11 Museum: five controversies ahead of public opening
E-International Relations: A Political Geographer in New York: Visiting the 9/11 Museum and Memorial by Klaus Dodds
Today: Restaurant at 9/11 Museum Stirs Controversy (video)
CNN: 9/11 Museum documentary stirs controversy on eve of opening by Steve Kastenbaum
New York Post: The 9/11 Museum's Absurd Gift Shop by Susan Edelman
NY1 News: The controversies of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum (video)
Memory Studies: "Performing Trauma: Commemorating 9/11 in Downtown Manhattan" by Ross Poole
The Battle for Ground Zero by Elizabeth Greenspan
Who Owns the Dead: The Science and Politics of Death and Ground Zero by Jay. D. Aronson
Controversy in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma Disaster Relief Fund Comes Under Fire
The Frontier, "Survivors of Oklahoma City bombing left with questions about how money from disaster fund was distributed."
Tulsa World, "Victims of OKC bombing struggle to get funds though $12 million remains."
KPBS, "Victims feel slighted by Oklahoma Bombing Fund."
Information on other memorials
"The Arizona 9/11 Memorial: A Case Study in Public Dissent and Argumentation Through Blogs" by Christina M. Smith and Kelly M. McDonald
Memorial Mania: Public Feeling in America by Erika Doss
Understanding Controversies over Memorial Museums: The Case of the Leistikowstraße Memorial Museum, Potsdam by David Clarke