This week is a week full of history: today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and also Inauguration Day; and on Thursday we will welcome Hillsdale College professor Dr. Wilfred McClay to the school to give a lecture on the importance of history.

But what, exactly, is history?  And how is any of this old stuff relevant today?  Shouldn’t we just look ahead and focus on making the future the best it can be?  Why bother with the past?

Well, Dr. McClay once wrote that “[w]hat memory is for individuals, history is for civilizations; and without [it], we soon forget who we are, and we perish.”  Sure, looking ahead is important.  But first, we must know who we are, and we know that by knowing our past. 

Can you imagine what it would be like to only be able to look forward, and not to remember anything about your past?  To forget who your friends and family are, to forget the big moments in your life?  Or only to be able remember selectively—just your embarrassing moments?  Or only your successes?  It would completely change who you are…maybe even make you, well…not really you anymore. 

Part of why we study history, why we remember our past presidents and leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., or events like Pearl Harbor and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, is because they are our national and civilizational memory.  And if we don’t remember them—and understand their significance—we won’t just forget some old facts; we’ll forget who we are as a people.  And that’s the same as not being us anymore.

So, yes, your history classes matter.

Have a wonderful day.