July 15, 2026 Submitted By Glenn Mangurian
Last week, I read the winning essay in the 2026 Annual Hingham Historical Essay Contest, sponsored by the Hingham Historical Society. First place was awarded to Sam Elizabeth Downs, a rising sophomore at Hingham High School, for “From Outsiders to Neighbors: The History of Italian Immigrants in Hingham”. I encourage you to read her excellent story. Sam’s essay prompted me to think about my own immigrant grandparents.
Remembering My Roots
My Armenian grandparents came to America in the 1890s, fleeing persecution in the Ottoman Empire. By leaving, both sides of my family escaped the Armenian Genocide that began in 1915. My wife’s Italian ancestors came to America in search of work and a better life.
Imagine the courage—perhaps the guts—it took to leave family and country behind, carrying your possessions in a single suitcase. They crossed an ocean by ship on voyages where passengers became sick and some died. I know the Mangurians landed at Ellis Island and were greeted by the Statue of Liberty.
Both of my grandfathers died before I was born, but I knew both of my grandmothers. They rarely spoke about the old country or how they built new lives in the Boston area. But one thing was clear: life was not easy.
Nana raised my mother, an only child, as a young divorced woman. Later, my mother cared for Nana, while my father, the eldest of three, cared for Grandma. Their devotion to their parents became a model for me when I cared for my mother after she became a widow.
Realizing the American Dream
I grew up in a two-family house in Arlington and played stickball in the street. My sister and I were the first in our family to attend college. We didn’t have much money, so a public university was our only realistic option.
I didn’t realize it then, but I was my grandparents’ and my parents’ American Dream.
Chances are, you are someone’s American Dream, too.
The Evolving Dream
We all define that dream differently. For some, it means owning a home, raising a family, and achieving financial security. For others, it means pursuing a passion, starting a business, or simply giving their children opportunities they never had. At its heart, the American Dream rests on a simple belief:
Every person should have the opportunity to build a better future.
By 1976, our Bicentennial year, the path to that dream seemed relatively straightforward. Get an education. Work hard. Find a stable job. Buy a home. Raise a family. Retire comfortably. A growing economy helped millions of Americans enter the middle class. Fifty years later, America is a very different place.
Technology has transformed nearly every aspect of our lives. Manufacturing jobs have given way to a knowledge-based economy. College tuition and housing costs have risen faster than incomes, making it harder for young families to reach milestones their parents often took for granted. Globalization and automation have created extraordinary opportunities while disrupting traditional careers.
Our definition of success has changed as well. Income and possessions are no longer the only measures. Many people value meaningful work, flexibility, strong relationships, good health, and time with family. Increasingly, the dream is about living according to one’s values, not simply accumulating wealth.
America has changed socially, too. Women and minorities have gained opportunities once denied to them. Inequality and discrimination have not disappeared, but millions of Americans can pursue careers and ambitions earlier generations could only imagine.
Still, many young adults wonder whether they will ever afford a home, repay student debt, or enjoy greater prosperity than their parents. Understandably, some question whether the American Dream is slipping away.
I don’t believe it is disappearing. The American Dream is evolving.
America has always been a nation of possibility, innovation, and reinvention. Every generation has faced its own obstacles. My grandparents had to assimilate into a new society, learn a new language, and provide for their families. My parents lived through the Great Depression, two world wars, and enormous social change. Like many of our generation, my wife and I worked to instill strong values and create opportunities for our children.
The circumstances change. The Dream endures.
The American Dream has never been a promise of equal outcomes. It is the promise of opportunity—the chance to learn, work, create, fail, recover, and try again. Preserving that opportunity requires both individual effort and a society committed to education, innovation, freedom, and the belief that talent and hard work can still open doors.
The American Dream is not a destination we reached once and for all. It is an ideal each generation must redefine and renew. Its greatest strength is not that it guarantees success. It is that it inspires hope—the belief that tomorrow can be better than today.
My grandparents believed in it. My parents lived it. I am the beneficiary of it
(and so are my children and theirs and theirs …).
As America marks the 250th anniversary of the ideals declared in 1776, perhaps our responsibility is simple:
Keep the Dream alive for those who come next.