The Smithsonian Castle is commemorating America’s pursuits over the last 250 years by bringing together iconic objects — from Thomas Jefferson’s Desk to Sally Ride’s spacesuit — for the first time. At a time when access to history is being called into question, co-curator Abeer Saha and intern Saanika Dhillon share why learning about the past is critical to our progress in the future.

This story was produced by Nora Bartel, Anthony Padron and Espy Cubillos with support from Becky Wandel and Victor Fernandez.

• Local Station: WETA