Submitted by Emily Arendt

September 17, 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?

National Park Service administered sites (including Harpers Ferry National Historic Park in West Virginia, Fort Pulaski National Monument in Georgia, Independence National Historical Park, and Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia), September 2025

What changed?

Following a review ordered by the Department of the Interior (in accordance with President Donald Trump’s March executive order) to locate interpretation reflecting a “corrosive ideology” at NPS sites, anonymous sources claim that they have been ordered to remove signs and exhibits related to slavery. The Washington Post first reported this, noting that more than 30 signs were flagged at Harpers Ferry as “out of compliance.” They also report that Park Service officials ordered staff at Fort Pulaski National Monument to remove the famous 1863 photograph “The Scourged Back,” which graphically illustrates the wounds sustained by an enslaved man, known as both Peter and Gordon, from brutal whippings.

The New York Times has since noted that a spokeswoman for the Interior Department said via email that the media was spreading “false claims” about the review, but failed to clarify what in the Washington Post report was inaccurate. USA Today likewise reports that the Interior Department will “review whether someone had incorrectly or prematurely ordered the photo’s removal.”

Despite confusion over the status of “The Scourged Back,” it is evident that interpretive signage related to slavery elsewhere is slated for removal, such as material critical of Lost Cause ideology at Manassas National Battlefield Park.

Additionally, displays relating to slavery at the President’s House at Philadelphia’s Independence Park have been flagged. The New York Times reports that “officials plan to substantially alter an exhibit that memorializes nine people enslaved by George Washington.”

It also reports pending changes to interpretation of Native American history at additional sites.

Why does the change matter?

As the National Parks Conservation Association Senior Director of Cultural Resources Alan Spears has written since the release of the Post’s article, “Expert historians at the National Park Service spend a great deal of time determining what goes on display at national parks, and what the public can learn from it. This photo [“Scourged Back”] and other images and information have been painstakingly selected and contextualized to help park visitors understand the role slavery has played in our history. By contrast, the decision to remove them was rendered in a matter of weeks, with little regard for the complexity of American history or the importance of the Park Service’s hard work.”

Evidence of change?

• Jake Spring and Hannah Natanson, “National park to remove photo of enslaved man’s scars,” Washington Post, Sept. 15, 2025.
• Maxine Joselow, “Park Service Is Ordered to Take Down Some Materials on Slavery and Tribes,” New York Times, Sept. 16, 2025.
• Trevor Hughes, “Revisionist history? Photo of enslaved man becomes new flashpoint in Trump’s review,” USA Today, Sept. 16, 2025.

Additional sources?

• “Parks Group Demands Truth: History of Slavery Cannot Be Erased From Our Parks,” National Parks Conservation Association.
• “Coalition To Protect America’s National Parks On Removal of Historical Information from National Parks: “Dangerous And Unprecedented Move,” The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks.