Lena Bohman Molly Blake Jenny McBurney Amelia Palacios Henrik Schönemann in Panorama, Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art (thanks to Mary Jane F.)
National Park Histories at Risk
Over the past few months, the Trump administration has unleashed an alarming series of attacks on US cultural, arts, and historical institutions. On March 27, 2025, the administration released Executive Order 14253, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” This order took specific aim at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, singling out exhibits at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the planned Smithsonian Women’s History Museum. The administration demanded that the Smithsonian “remove improper ideology” within the institution’s museums, education and research centers, and National Zoo.1 On August 12, 2025, the Trump administration sent a letter to the Smithsonian Institution titled “Internal Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions and Materials,” which stated that “we will be leading a comprehensive internal review of selected Smithsonian museums and exhibitions. This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”2
In addition to the Smithsonian, the executive order had another explicit target: the cultural sites under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior (DOI), including the National Park Service (NPS). The DOI was ordered to scrub any “content that inappropriately disparage[s] Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times)” from its sites, which include public monuments, memorials, statues, and markers.3 On May 20, 2025, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued Secretarial Order 3431, also titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” In this order, Burgum directed all NPS sites to perform an internal review of all their signage and additionally required these sites to post new signs asking the public to report “any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.”4 Burgum laid out deadlines for interpretative signs to be changed to comply with the executive order.
Collectively, these documents reveal a chilling reality: the current US administration views existing practices of preservation and interpretation of history, culture, and art as an active threat. As Trump stated in Executive Order 14253,
It is the policy of my Administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing.5
In sum, these documents detail the administration’s goals to stifle works of culture and accounts of history that go against their chosen ideology and remove portions of history that, in the administration’s view, do not cast the United States in a good light.
While it may seem incomprehensible why this administration has chosen to attack an institution that has long been appreciated by Americans across the political spectrum, we can better understand when we remember that the National Park Service, established in 1916, is, in essence, the nation’s “largest outdoor history classroom.”6 While we may traditionally picture parks like Yosemite when thinking of National Parks, the NPS also includes National Historic Sites, National Monuments, National Battlefields, and more. Every NPS site, regardless of type, is designated by Congress and has a unique mandate to tell the story of the historic significance of that site. To meet this goal, each site displays interpretive signs and text to help visitors learn about the land and historic events in that location, connecting them to American history, often beyond what can be learned in a classroom.7 Creating interpretations for these sites is a long process that involves consultation with local community groups and stakeholders, consideration of accessibility for visitors with differing reading levels and disabilities, and incorporation of interactive activities and videos. (continue on Page 2 or here)