New Look, Vision at Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

It was just a dime store dinette, not the sort of place destined to make history. But on a winter afternoon a half-century ago, that Woolworth's counter in Greensboro, N.C., was the setting for a transformative moment in America's struggle for freedom.

The four black students who defied racial segregation by sitting at that counter were fighting for their share of the American dream -- not just for themselves, but for posterity. The story of the courage of the Greensboro Four is but one thread in the story of equal opportunity leading, almost 50 years later, to the election of America's first African American president.

On Friday, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History will once again display the actual lunch counter from Greensboro, along with thousands of other treasures of our national heritage. After a two-year renovation, the museum will resume its central role in telling the story of America and providing a critical link between the past and the present. Through dramatic architectural changes and innovative exhibitions and programs, we will shine new light on American history.

The museum's transformation includes a huge sky-lit atrium that serves as a new national public square for the 21st century. As in towns and cities across the globe, our public square will be a dynamic place for civic life, a crossroads for ideas, information, entertainment, commerce, and human connections. In this welcoming space, we will host programs, performances and -- for the first time -- naturalization ceremonies.

At the heart of the public square, a spectacular new gallery features the preserved Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired our national anthem, now presented dramatically "by the dawn's early light." A triumph of engineering and craftsmanship, the gallery provides historical perspective for understanding how this flag became a national icon.

It is my belief that the National Museum of American History should be everyone's first stop on the Mall. Our mission, as stewards of the nation's memory, is to educate, engage and encourage study of our national experience. The opportunity to experience the stories of American history -- the triumphs and struggles, the ideals and traditions that have shaped our national identity -- through unsurpassed collections, exhibitions and programs, is what the museum offers every American and our many visitors from around the globe.

Over the next six weeks, everyone who comes to the museum has a rare opportunity to see Abraham Lincoln's handwritten copy of the Gettysburg Address. Through a generous loan from the White House, we are presenting this document in a new gallery. Lincoln's message of "a new birth of freedom" has enduring meaning for all who visit the museum seeking a better understanding of what it means to be an American.

History is an essential resource for making sense of these extraordinary times. The issues that dominate our news today -- war, presidential politics, financial upheaval, immigration and the environment -- are inexorably connected to the past and to the people who shaped those events.

Dictatorships and authoritarian rulers keep the past cloaked in darkness. In a democracy, we celebrate our recurring birth of freedom by exposing history to light -- even if that light reveals the dark corners of our past. As we reopen America's largest and most popular history museum, we understand that our democracy -- a government of, by and for the people -- depends in large measure on free and unfettered access to our heritage. History belongs to all of us.

-- Brent D. Glass

Washington

The writer is director of the National Museum of American History and a member of the Flight 93 Memorial Advisory Commission.