Currently at the Memorial & Museum
Preserving History...
Museum Artifacts Tell a Story
The small farming community of Herington, Kansas, was changed forever by the bombing. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols used Herington and Junction City, Kansas, as staging areas and stockpiled their bomb building supplies in storage units in those towns. Michigan native Terry Nichols, who lived in Herington for only six weeks before the bombing, was arrested three days after the bombing for his role in the building of the truck bomb. The media unknowingly labeled Nichols as a long-time resident of Herington. The FBI and the national media descended upon the quiet community by the hundreds to gather evidence and interviews. Two years ago, Museum staff visited Herington to gather oral histories of trial witnesses and artifacts so this community’s stories could be shared with visitors of the Museum. Susan Mueller and J. R. Sparkes, employees of The Herington Times newspaper, donated numerous photographs and newspapers that documented the impact on their community. The images to the right show the law enforcement blockade around Nichols rental house, the FBI collecting evidence and the national media reporting the story.
The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum is the repository for all things that have to do with the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and its aftermath. An important task of the Archives staff is to collect artifacts and documentary collections so the stories related to this event will be preserved for future generations.
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