Since President Donald Trump returned to office, his administration has been removing or altering displays at museums and parks across the country. The effort traces back to last year, when Trump signed an executive order aimed at “restoring truth and sanity to American history.”
Since then, the president has ordered the National Portrait Gallery to alter and repost information about his two impeachments.
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Now, The Washington Post reports that National Park Service staff took down an exhibit on slavery at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Slavery exhibit removed
The slavery exhibit was located at the President’s House Site, where George Washington lived while serving as president. It featured informational panels discussing Washington’s ownership of enslaved people, detailing their lives, and placing their experiences in the broader history of slavery in the U.S.
In a statement to Straight Arrow News, the U.S. Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, said the removal came at Trump’s direction.
“The President has directed federal agencies to review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values,” the statement read. “Following completion of the required review, the National Park Service is now taking action to remove or revise interpretive materials in accordance with the Order.”
Following the removal, the City of Philadelphia filed a lawsuit against the administration, saying “Defendants have provided no explanation at all for their removal of the historical, educational displays at the President’s House site, let alone a reasoned one.”
The department responded to the lawsuit with the following statement:
“We encourage the City of Philadelphia to focus on getting their jobless rates down and ending their reckless cashless bail policy instead of filing frivolous lawsuits in the hopes of demeaning our brave Founding Fathers who set the brilliant road map for the greatest country in the world – the United States of America.”
Other historic removals
Thursday’s removal was not the first involving slavery-related material.
In September, the administration ordered several National Park Service sites to take down displays related to Native Americans and slavery. The request included an 1863 photograph depicting a formerly enslaved man with scars on his back.
The photo, titled “The Scourged Back,” had been displayed at Fort Pulaski National Monument in Georgia.
According to a statement from Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., the National Park Service also removed signs at Acadia National Park in Maine that referenced climate change. The administration said the signage undermined “the remarkable achievements of the United States.”
Huffman also said that displays referencing slavery, the detention of Japanese Americans during World War II, and conflicts with Native Americans had been removed from at least one other park.
Smithsonian museums
Beyond the National Parks, the administration has also ordered the Smithsonian Institution to make similar changes, saying it needs to revise what it described as “woke” exhibits.
In an August letter, the administration gave Smithsonian officials 120 days to make revisions.
“It is more important than ever that our national museums reflect the unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story,” the letter said. It added that the goal was “to support a broader vision of excellence that highlights historically accurate, uplifting, and inclusive portrayals of America’s heritage.”
On Jan. 13, the White House sent another letter to the institution, saying that date was the deadline for the Smithsonian to submit materials on upcoming exhibits for review. The letter said earlier submissions “fell far short” and requested more details.
It also warned that federal funding for the Smithsonian’s budget depended on the institution fulfilling the terms of Trump’s executive order, which called for the removal of what it described as “improper ideology” from museums’ exhibits.
It remains unclear what changes may be made at Smithsonian institutions.
