Holding These Truths: Museums, Historic Sites, and the Work of Civic Renewal As the United States approaches the quarter-millennium mark, we need to provide learners of all ages with the skills and dispositions required to undertake the hard work of democracy. Sarah Jencks, Jane Kamensky, and Carrie Kotcho all focus on historic sites and history museums as engines of civic capacity building and democracy renewal. What does it mean to offer a complete history that looks honestly at the paradoxes of America’s founding era and recognizes the genius of framers and ordinary citizens, enslaved and free? What inspires our visitors to continue the work of realizing the promise of the Declaration of Independence? Join us in a conversation about the generational opportunity of 2026, the inseparability of history and civics, and the ways the country’s founding principles – and the design challenges inherent in its creation – can continue to help us build a more perfect union.
