On New Yr’s Day 2026, our nation begins the celebration of the 250th anniversary of its founding, as Dexter Southfield College marks the centennial of its personal founding. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough as soon as wrote, “Historical past is who we’re and why we’re the best way we’re.” On this 12 months of milestones, that sentence feels much less like reflection and extra like duty — an invite to honor those that got here earlier than us whereas asking what we’re ready to hold ahead.
“The marvelous factor in regards to the previous,” McCullough as soon as stated, “is everytime you attain down into it, all you discover is life.” Historical past is alive with individuals who argued, failed, tried once more, and nonetheless believed their participation mattered. That perception feels particularly pressing right this moment, when civic participation is just too usually changed by efficiency.
McCullough believed historical past prepares folks for citizenship. Democracies endure, he argued, solely when residents acknowledge how fragile establishments are and the way simply freedom erodes when folks withdraw. Patriotism, rightly understood, shouldn’t be one thing one declares; it’s one thing one practices.
Based in 1926, Dexter was constructed by households who believed schooling was greater than preparation for achievement. It was formation for citizenship. Faculties form mind and character; robust democracies rely upon such establishments.
Amongst Dexter’s college students was a younger John F. Kennedy. Lengthy earlier than he impressed a nation, he was formed by a faculty that valued historical past, debate, rhetoric, public talking, athletics, and repair. The habits he encountered — standing for the onerous proper in opposition to the simple unsuitable — helped type the chief he would grow to be.
Historical past is obvious: Kennedy, like all leaders, was imperfect. However historical past doesn’t keep in mind perfection. It remembers those that stepped ahead in assist of the larger good. When Kennedy urged People in 1961 to “ask not what your nation can do for you, ask what you are able to do to your nation,” he issued a name to engagement and shared duty. That problem nonetheless resonates.
McCullough believed democracy relies on individuals who present up of their communities and their establishments to have necessary conversations that form the longer term.
As we mark the founding of our nation alongside the founding of our faculty, we’re reminded why historical past issues. McCullough as soon as described himself as a “short-term pessimist and a long-term optimist,” acknowledging turbulence whereas insisting that progress stays attainable when folks keep engaged.
Historical past doesn’t belong solely to those that got here earlier than us. It’s a reward entrusted to these keen to hold ahead the teachings and sacrifices. Sixty-five years in the past, President Kennedy declared that “the torch has been handed” as an invite. That torch continues to be being handed in school rooms and communities, in conversations and commitments, and within the each day decisions that form our shared future.
As we enter this milestone 12 months, could we settle for that inheritance with gratitude and braveness and use it in service of the establishments and civic life that maintain our nation. Historical past asks no much less of us.
Dr. Peter F. Folan is the Head of College at Dexter Southfield in Brookline
