Submitted by Johann Neem
April 9, 2025
At a time when the Trump Administration is quickly altering public interpretations of history and removing references to the past on websites and public spaces, it is vital that historians keep track of what is changing. The Early Republic Tracker is dedicated to documenting instances where the federal government is removing facts and stories essential to the public’s understanding American history from public historical sites, museums, websites, and executive agencies.
Where/When did the changes take place?
- Around March 28, 2025, at the U.S. Naval Academy library.
What changed?
- Prior to a visit from Pete Hegseth, Hegseth’s office required the library to remove books that did not comply with Trump’s executive orders concerning DEI.
Why does the change matter?
- An academic library at a university is a place that should protect academic freedom. The presence of books does not mean the endorsement of any particular perspective but instead allows students, faculty, and citizens to gain access to diverse and competing scholarly interpretations about a subject. Removing books in a university library because of their content/argument is a form of censorship.
Website/location/document where change was made?
- United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
Evidence of change?
- https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/us/politics/naval-academy-dei-books-removed.html
- https://media.defense.gov/2025/Apr/04/2003683009/-1/-1/0/250404-LIST%20OF%20REMOVED%20BOOKS%20FROM%20NIMITZ%20LIBRARY.PDF
- https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/us/politics/naval-academy-diversity-affirmative-action.html
Additional sources?
- Emily Drabinski, “The Fight for Libraries,” Academe (Spr. 2023), https://www.aaup.org/article/fight-libraries
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The Early Republic Tracker documents instances where the federal government is removing facts and stories essential to the public’s understanding American history from public historical sites, museums, websites, and executive agencies.
