The Trump administration has ordered the restoration of national park signs on climate change, slavery
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore signs related to topics such as climate change, slavery and Indigenous and LGBTQ+ history that were removed under an executive order to clean up language in national parks that is said to misrepresent America.
The order prompted the removal of President Washington's slave speech at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, signs about climate threats at Fort Sumter in South Carolina and a pride flag at Stonewall National Monument in New York City, according to a lawsuit challenging the action.
In California, language related to the preservation of Japanese Americans at Manzanar National Historic Site, and the history of Native peoples in Death Valley and Muir Woods were explored.
The first order was issued on Friday by US District Judge Angel Kelley in Boston, who sided with conservation and historical groups and ordered all languages removed under the order to be returned before the Fourth of July. Earlier this year, another federal judge ordered the return of a symbol associated with Washington's slaves.
In Friday's order, Kelley accused the Trump administration of seeking to “rewrite the Nation's history with a white pen,” and said national parks play an important role in telling America's mixed history, including “the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
“Because the Defendants have deemed it necessary to deprive the parks of these undeniable facts in anticipation of the 250th Anniversary of our great Nation,” he wrote, “it is equally important that our shared history be faithfully told and fully restored during the 250th Anniversary to properly honor the remarkable achievements of the United States.”
A spokesman for the United States Department of the Interior dismissed the decision as the work of a “libertarian judge.”
“The Department will consider our application options as we celebrate UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House this weekend in honor of our nation's 250th anniversary with the greatest president in our nation's history – President Donald J. Trump,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Trump first signed an executive order in March 2025, saying the revisionist movement seeks to undermine American history by replacing objective truth with a distorted, ideology-driven narrative.
“Under this historical revision, our Nation's unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reframed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or irreparably flawed,” the order said.
Under the order, more than 430 sites under the National Park Service have been told to review the language on monuments, memorials, statues and signs to ensure they are not derogatory to Americans past or present, keeping an eye on language added during the administration of former President Biden. QR codes have also been added to sites encouraging visitors to report any signs they believe violate the order.
In February, a coalition consisting of the National Parks Conservation Assn., American Assn. of State and Local History, Assn. The National Park Rangers and the Union of Concerned Scientists filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston alleging that the order erases American history and science.
“National parks serve as living classrooms in our country, where science and history come alive for visitors,” said Alan Spears, executive director of cultural resources for the park conservancy, in a February statement. “As Americans, we deserve museums that tell the stories of our country's triumphs and heartbreaks alike. We can handle the truth.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
