Museums Across Nation to Observe Sept. 11 Anniversary

Scores of museums around the country will offer free admission Wednesday. Many also plan special programs and exhibits to mark the first anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

For a list of such programs, visit the American Assn. of Museums’ Internet site, www.aam-us.org. (Click on “Museums Celebrate America’s Freedoms,” then “What Are Other Museums Doing?”)

The Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts forum, (805) 966-5373, www.sbcaf.org, will present a free, continuous reading of the obituaries of Sept. 11 victims by local residents from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Among the exhibits:

* New York: “The Day Our World Changed: Children’s Art of 9/11” displays more than 80 paintings, drawings and collages that local schoolchildren created in response to the attacks. Museum of the City of New York. Wednesday to Jan. 19. Suggested admission $7 adults. (212) 534-1672, www.mcny.org.

Another exhibit at the museum’s downtown location, 195 Broadway, is titled “The City Resilient: Photographs by Joel Meyerowitz.” About 70 photos selected from more than 8,500 he shot at Ground Zero through June will be shown. Tuesday to Nov. 3.

“9-11 One Year Later” presents artifacts related to the creation of the World Trade Center and the events of Sept. 11. Tuesday to Oct. 31. New-York Historical Society. Other exhibits opening this week at the society display photos by David Margules and drawings by artist Richard Welling; other ongoing Sept. 11 exhibits run through Oct. 20.

* Washington, D.C.: “September 11: Bearing Witness to History” presents artifacts, images and personal stories. It includes one of two surviving stairwell signs from the World Trade Center; the baseball cap of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani; the camera used by Bill Biggart, who lost his life documenting the attacks; and a video of newscasts. National Museum of American History. Wednesday to Jan. 12. Free admission. (202) 357-2700, www.americanhistory.si.edu.

* Harrisburg, Pa.: “Flight 93 Remembered” presents items left behind as tributes by thousands who have visited the site in Somerset County, Pa., where hijacked United Flight 93 crashed Sept. 11. Objects on display are as diverse as a note scrawled by an 8-year-old girl and an airplane made of Lego building blocks. State Museum of Pennsylvania. Through Oct. 2. Free admission. (717) 787-4979, www.statemuseumpa.org.

* Chicago: “New York September 11 by Magnum Photographers” presents 37 photos and a silent video shot by members of the photo cooperative who were in New York for a meeting Sept. 10. There are also children’s artworks and flag displays prompted by the attacks. Chicago Historical Society. Through Jan. 20. $5 adults. (312) 642-4600, www.chicagohs.org.