Presented by the Bielfeldt Foundation,
Open September 5, 2026 - April 11, 2026
Peoria Riverfront Museum presents We Remember: Stories from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, on view from September 3, 2026, through April 11, 2027.
This exhibition commemorates 25 years since the attacks on September 11, 2001. Many of the objects on display are being exhibited publicly for the first time, including items used in the rescue and recovery efforts, first-hand accounts from survivors and first responders, pieces of steel and rubble pulled from “Ground Zero,” and significant artistic responses created in the aftermath. This exhibition will be the first curated entirely with objects from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum's permanent collection, as well as supplementary objects from the museum's permanent collection and outside loans from the New York Historical Society and the Lincoln Heritage Museum.
Highlighting Peoria’s connections to 9/11, stories from employees of Peoria-based insurance firm RLI Corporations, who maintained an office in the World Trade Center North Tower, will be featured as well as a space dedicated to the memory of Charles “Chip” Chan, the only Peoria-born victim to have perished in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Loans from the New York Historical Society and the Lincoln Heritage Museum connect the tragic losses from 9/11 with the Peoria Riverfront Museum’s Danaïde by master French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). The sculpture was presented to the museum in 1987 as a conciliatory gift following a trading error between Peoria investor Gary Bielfeldt and Cantor Fitzgerald founder Bernard Gerald Cantor. Had the error never occurred, the sculpture may have otherwise been lost as the Cantor Collection of over 80 artworks displayed on the 105th floors of the World Trade Center’s North Tower were destroyed during the attacks. It was there that 23-year-old Charles “Chip” Chan, a Richwoods High School graduate and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumnus, began his career.
Danaïde today stands as a symbol of both a remarkable and timeless masterpiece and an everlasting tribute to “Chip” Chan, the Cantor Collection, and all those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
Through these objects, oral histories, works of art, and accounts of service and resilience, visitors will encounter the many ways Americans came together in the aftermath—to mourn, rebuild, serve, commemorate, and find meaning amid unimaginable loss. As America reflects on its Semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this exhibition is a testament that freedom is sustained not only by ideals, but by service, sacrifice, and a shared commitment to remember.
This exhibition presented by the Bielfeldt Foundation
Sponsored by Advanced Medical Transportation, RLI, Mike and Lori Gudat, Patricia and Anthony Cutilletta, Sally Snyder, Lisa and Bob Gates, Craig Kliethermes, John and Julia Chan, Sid P. Ruckriegel and Andrew A. Rand Charitable Foundation, America 250 donors, Visionary Society
