August 25: A century of history from parks to space exploration

Each year, August 25 resurfaces as a quiet mirror held up to the American character — reflecting choices made about what to protect, what to explore, and what to reckon with. From the founding of the National Park Service in 1916, with its solemn promise to future generations, to the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and the contested violence of Kenosha in 2020, this single date accumulates the full weight of a nation in perpetual negotiation with itself. The events are disparate in kind but unified in question: what do we owe to the world we inhabit, and to those who will inherit it af