Executive Director Details Changes At National Memorial & Museum

As we near the 25th anniversary of the Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City, News 9 is taking a look at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum with an emphasis on the importance of keeping stories about the terrorist attack alive.

A lot of things have changed over the years at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.

"This museum and the outdoor memorial was touched by hundreds of hands and, most importantly, the family of survivors and first-responders. This is their story. We're the caretakers of it," said the museum's Executive Director Kari Watkins.

Watkins has been there since the beginning.

"It really has been a lot of time and effort, but most importantly, it has been watching people heal and move forward," she said.

While the outdoor memorial stays the same, the musuem has seen changes on the inside due to the extensive archive collection.

"I think the archive is the single-largest collection of one incident in the country," Watkins said.

Changing some of what you see inside the museum keeps the history fresh and helps those who might be learning the story of the bombing for the first time. Watkins explained that evolving with technology helps to preserve the stories for future generations.

"The story doesn't change, but the mediums in how we tell the story will change and should change as long as we're here," Watkins said.

In 2001, the iPhone for example didn't even exist.

"So think about that, and how fast that's changed," she said.