Ask the Experts: American inheritance

Its opening line should be familiar to every American: “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” The Declaration of Independence is one of the most well-known documents in the world, and 2026 marks its 250th birthday. To celebrate this milestone, the Central Region Humanities Center will hold a conference titled “250 Years: The Promises and Legacy of the Declaration of Independence,” September 10-13 on Ohio University’s Athens campus.

In the latest episode of our “Ask the Experts” podcast, we talk to the conference’s organizers about the history and legacy of the Declaration of Independence and about the impact its ideas had on one of Ohio University’s founders.

Joining us are Mariana Dantas, associate professor of History and director of the Central Region Humanities Center; Fred Drogula, Charles J. Ping Professor of Humanities and professor of Classics; Kristina Bross, dean of the Honors Tutorial College; and Greta Suiter, manuscripts archivist in University Libraries. Each guest brings a unique perspective to the conference’s planning, but they came together with a shared purpose.

“Our goal is to spark a conversation about how the promises contained in the Declaration of Independence have been realized,” Dantas says.

That conversation has already begun for a group of OHIO students whose summer internships have been funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The 14 students doing archival research across the University and community are experiencing firsthand an insight Drogula expresses in this episode.

“Original documents make things real in a way that reading something in a textbook does not,” he says.

In addition to the Declaration of Independence, the original documents we discuss in the episode include papers from the University’s own archives, which include the collection of Manasseh Cutler’s correspondence, notebooks and sermons. Cutler is considered the “father of Ohio University,” according to Suiter, who works with Dantas and other faculty members to bring the collection to classes. 

One task for the student interns is transcribing Cutler’s papers, many of which will be included in the exhibit opening at Alden Library on September 13. Suiter points out that transcribing the papers can be challenging due to the “flowery” nature of the 18th century language.

“It can be hard to interpret even though it’s English,” she explains. “You have to get into that mindset of ‘why were they writing this?’”

The answer to that question is at the heart of our podcast conversation, and of the conference itself, which traces the legacy of the document to our own region and down through generations.

Coinciding with the conference, an exhibit of Cutler’s papers will open on September 13.

“That’s an important discussion to have with students,” Dantas says. “That they have inherited the promises of the Declaration of Independence, but they are also responsible for realizing those promises in the present and the future.”

Conference attendees will have ample opportunity to participate in that discussion through sessions that cover intellectual traditions, colonization, equality, and more. The conference’s keynote speaker is Dr. Colleen Shogan, the 14th archivist of the United States.

“We thought it would be interesting to hear from someone who was actually the keeper of the original document,” Dantas says. “So we can have a conversation, not just about the meaning of the text, but the meaning of this object that as a nation, we’ve decided is important to keep…It is a monument to something.”

The event is free and open to the public, a feature Bross praises.

“One of the really amazing things to note about this conference…is that it's not a closed off, experts-only event,” Bross says. “I think that's one of the things that's really exciting for me…it’s an open event in a way that a lot of these events may not be.”

Our conversation with the panel is wide-ranging, touching on everything from the Magna Carta to Nicolas Cage. 

Listen here

The 14 OHIO students participating in NEH-funded internships worked with the following organizations:

• Athens County Public Libraries to curate an exhibition for their Stories in the Park initiative in Richland Park
• Invisible Ground
• The Ohio University Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections
• Mount Zion Black Cultural Center
• The Southeast Ohio History Center
• Tablertown People of Color Museum

“250 Years: The Promises and Legacy of the Declaration of Independence,” held September 10-13, will begin with a Concert on the Green event, A Choral Reading of the Declaration of Independence, on College Green on September 10 at 6 p.m. Conference sessions September 11 and 12 will take place from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. and address the historical context of the Declaration, the impact of its foundational ideals on the trajectory of the United States, and our continued pursuit of its principles and values. The conference’s keynote, a conversation between Colleen Shogun and Bross, will take place September 11 at 5 p.m. Find more details about the conference, including a schedule of events and presenter details.