President's Note: Of the People
The 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence invites all Americans to reflect on our highest ideals—equality, government by the people, unalienable rights, and a civic identity grounded in an ongoing commitment to build a more perfect union. That goal has inspired generations to make these ideals concrete for everyone.
Historic places—the sites where our history happened—enable us today to connect both with our nation’s high aspirations and with those in the past who fought to make them true. These places serve as reminders that the American experiment has always depended on us—citizens who dream, gather, debate, and work together to build a shared future.
At Chesterwood, a National Trust Historic Site that we feature in the Winter 2026 issue of Preservation, visitors encounter artistic expressions of civic pride and democratic aspiration. Daniel Chester French’s sculptures, from the seated figure of Abraham Lincoln to memorials that grace public spaces across the country, embody the hope that beauty, art, and public memory can lead us toward common ground.
In a different but equally powerful way, artist and preservationist Robert Louis Brandon Edwards is reviving a 1947 Greyhound bus as a mobile museum telling personal stories of the Great Migration. His project, also detailed in this issue of Preservation, connects the pursuit of freedom and equality to the lived experiences of millions of Black Americans who reshaped this nation in their search for opportunity and dignity.
And at the Tenement Museum (another National Trust Historic Site), thoughtfully interpreted living spaces depict the lives of immigrants and migrants on New York’s Lower East Side from the 1860s through the 1970s, including families from Germany, Eastern Europe, and Puerto Rico. In our photo essay featured in this issue, selected photographs from the Tenement Museum’s collection, taken in the 1930s and 1970s, reveal moments in the lives of Jewish, Italian, and Asian immigrants and others who came to the city seeking safety, stability, and belonging. Their stories illuminate what it has meant—and still means—to be American.
Together, these places and projects remind us that the ideals of our founding are not relics of the past but calls to action now. They compel each of us to ensure that the promise of America becomes real—for everyone.
