"It is my firm belief that the past is the greatest teacher we have.  It is the source of a great deal of our stability as a country.  It propels us in the right direction, and it provides each individual with a surprisingly powerful emotional resonance from which we can begin to judge where we as individuals go."
    Ken Burns,
Lewis and Clark – 
The Journey of the Corps of Discovery
© The American Lives Film Project, Inc. 1997