The Trump administration removed 57 exhibits, signs, books, and other materials from national parks and monuments across the United States, according to a court filing released on June 17, as per the court filing. The removals were part of a broader effort by the administration to eliminate content that officials believed either did not focus on the natural beauty of parks or “disparaged Americans past or living.”
The court filing was submitted after a federal judge ordered the administration to reveal exactly what materials had been removed from parks and monuments nationwide. On June 12, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley issued a preliminary injunction blocking the administration’s attempt to change historical and educational content in national parks.
Materials removed from national parks
Some of the removed materials dealt with topics such as slavery and climate change, which had been displayed in parks and monuments across the country. According to the court filing, many of the removed items were educational displays, interpretive signs, and printed materials used by visitors to learn about history and culture.
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Full list of the 57 items removed from national parks and monuments
- Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area – “Guide to the Gap” park brochure
- Gateway National Recreation Area – Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge VC exhibit
- Colonial National Historical Park – General Assembly wayside
- Acadia National Park – Exhibits in the Nature Center
- Acadia National Park – Tripods at Cadillac Mountain
- Acadia National Park – Tripods at Great Meadows
- Acadia National Park – Exhibit at Schoodic Institute
- Independence National Historical Park – Portrait description
- Cape Cod National Seashore – Four waysides
- First State National Historical Park – Caesar Rodney exhibit
- George Washington Memorial Parkway – Tribal land acknowledgement posting
- National Mall and Memorial Parks – George Mason Wayside
- National Mall and Memorial Parks – African American Civil War Memorial Wayside
- National Mall and Memorial Parks – FDR Memorial Exhibit Panel
- George Washington Memorial Parkway – Sign at Great Falls
- Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument – Informational wayside
- Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site – Short video
- Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site – Video
- Big Cypress National Preserve – Mangroves wayside
- Blue Ridge Parkway – Wayside
- Buck Island Reef National Monument – Junior Ranger book
- Cane River Creole National Historical Park – Temporary exhibits in Visitor Center
- Cane River Creole National Historical Park – Exhibit panels
- Castillo de San Marcos National Monument – Exhibit panels
- Castillo de San Marcos National Monument – Exhibit panels
- Charles Pinckney National Historic Site – Sign
- Christiansted National Historic Site – Film
- Christiansted National Historic Site – Film
- Cumberland Gap National Historical Park – Publication
- Fort Raleigh National Historic Site – Junior Ranger book
- Fort Raleigh National Historic Site – Waysides
- Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park – Bottle fill signs
- Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park – Wayside
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park – Interior exhibit
- Guilford Courthouse National Military Park – Exhibit panels in Visitor Center
- Gulf Islands National Seashore – Exhibits
- Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve – Waysides
- Mammoth Cave National Park – Exhibit panels in Visitor Center
- Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument – Junior Ranger book
- Natchez Trace Parkway – Waysides
- Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park – Site bulletin
- Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve – Exhibit panels in Visitor Center
- Virgin Islands National Park – Waysides
- Virgin Islands National Park – Waysides
- Muir Woods National Monument – Sign (Reason – Disparages America’s past or living)
- Muir Woods National Monument – Sign (Reason – Unrelated to beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the natural landscape)
- Wrangell–St. Elias National Park & Preserve – Exhibit panels
- Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore – Wayside
- Grand Teton National Park – Exhibit panel
- Sunset Crater National Monument – Exhibit panel
- Rock Creek Park – Wayside
- Natchez Trace Parkway – Exhibit panels
- Natchez Trace Parkway – Wayside
- Natchez Trace Parkway – Wayside/sign
- Natchez Trace Parkway – Waysides
- Natchez Trace Parkway – Site bulletin
- Independence National Historic Site – President’s House Site exhibit panels
Trump executive order explained
The removals were linked to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump during the early months of his second term. The executive order directed federal officials to review monuments, memorials, statues, and related materials across the country, as cited by USA Today. The order called for the removal of language that the administration believed supported what it described as a “revisionist movement” in American history. According to the administration, that movement presents American history as being inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or fundamentally flawed.
The legal fight over the removals is still ongoing, but the newly released court filing provides the first detailed public list of the 57 exhibits, signs, books, and materials that were removed from national parks under the administration’s policy.
