A fifth-grade class trip.

That’s when the history bug bit me, on a visit to Washington, DC, with my school safety patrol from Alabama. I still hold vivid memories – and a grainy black-and-white photo – of seeing the Capitol and especially the White House for the first time.

Standing in rooms where a president and his family lived and worked sparked an interest in history and place that has stayed with me ever since. I couldn’t have imagined then that, as an adult, my work would focus on learning that history and sharing why it matters – especially as our country approaches its 250th anniversary.

Now, as president of the White House Historical Association, I see how powerfully the place we call the People’s House reflects America’s evolution as an independent democracy over more than two centuries.

From its earliest days, the White House was a place where public servants would gather to work, welcome the public and develop ideas for governing a nation by and for the people. It was intended to be a living symbol of the American democratic experiment.

That symbolism extended to where it was built and how it functioned.

The White House was constructed in a new federal city on land carved out of the states of Virginia and Maryland. Unlike the previous capitals of New York and Philadelphia that existed before the United States became an independent country, Washington, DC, would not only need to be built........

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