The Interior Department has removed signage at South Carolina's Fort Sumter National Monument containing climate change projections, including claims about rising seas potentially inundating the fort's walls and flooding the historic parade ground. The department told CNN it acted to replace materials not grounded in real science with information that is accurate, evidence-based, and aligned with how the world actually works.
The removals follow President Donald Trump's March 2025 executive order directing the agency to take action against public content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living. The order led the Interior Department to direct the National Park Service to encourage visitors to submit comments on signs, including whether they notice any negative messaging about either past or living Americans, with items deemed inconsistent with the order subject to removal or replacement.
Scope of Review
According to an internal NPS database seen by CNN, hundreds of displays were flagged for review. The array of content flagged included books for sale about slavery, displays about the forced internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and a film about 19th century mill workers in Massachusetts. One flagged display recalled abolitionist Elijah Parish Lovejoy's killing, with a comment asking, "This document states a 'mob murders' an abolitionist. Does this denigrate the murderers?" and suggesting rewording the inscription to "Abolitionist editor Elijah Lovejoy is murdered for his views."
A panel at a National Park in St. Croix was flagged with a note saying it discusses the slave trade and its connection to the sugar industry which some may find disparaging or inappropriate. The sign below Gustavus Cheyney Doane's statue at a Grand Teton National Park visitor center was removed; it had asked visitors, "How do we acknowledge the good and bad of a figure?" and pointed out that Doane's expedition led to the designation of the first national park, but also that he helped lead a massacre of at least 173 members of the Piegan Blackfeet, an act he bragged about throughout his life.
Administration Defense and Critics' Response
The Trump administration argues the order ensures that American history is portrayed in a positive light. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said Trump is honoring our country's extraordinary heritage and restoring a sense of national pride, and that the President has put an end to the radical left's divisive and inaccurate characterization of our nation's history, which infiltrated our national parks and museums, and is restoring truth and sanity.
Critics say it is erasing elements of the nation's past. Tom Rodgers, a member of the Blackfeet Nation who is known as One Who Rides His Horse East, said, "We are killing them all over again," referring to victims of the massacre, which he called one of the most despicable historical experiences for Native Americans. He also said, "I think we're at a point in our country where people think that if you tell half the truth, you've told all the truth, and that in itself, is a lie. It's Orwellian."
In California's Muir Woods National Monument, signs on the contributions of Native Americans and women have been removed, including a note informing visitors that John Muir once referred to indigenous people using racist language in his diaries and ignored the genocide they survived. The removed sign had said, "This contributes to an idea that indigenous people don't belong in parks." A new panel on founding father George Mason in Washington, DC, does not mention that he was a slaveowner.
Legal and Congressional Pushback
The removals come as America enters a moment replete with opportunity to reflect upon its history, with celebrations to commemorate its 250th birthday throughout this year. The Trump administration's efforts have drawn backlash from some lawmakers and advocacy groups, including a February lawsuit from a coalition of conservationists and advocates citing the Doane and other sign removals. It accused the administration of mounting a sustained campaign to erase history and undermine science, and the case in Massachusetts is still pending.
Last month, a federal court blocked the National Park Service from going forward with plans to replace slavery-related exhibits at the President's House Site in Philadelphia. Critics said the new panels sanitized the exhibition, which was erected to recognize individuals enslaved by George Washington.
Democrats in the House and Senate sent letters to Interior Department leadership as recently as April asking for further clarity about the agency's review, and the Interior Department has not responded to letters from Democrats in Congress, according to the offices of Sen. Martin Heinrich and Reps. Sharice Davids and Jared Huffman. Huffman said at a February hearing, "Actual history is getting whitewashed and censored from national parks and museums. We should honor the 250th anniversary of America by telling the truth."
Alan Spears, a senior director at the National Parks Conservation Association, said, "This notion of needing to restore truth and sanity to American history is one of the largest red herrings in American history. It's trying to resolve a problem that doesn't really exist, that never really existed."
Impact on Park Service Personnel
Kym Hall, a former National Park Service regional director who retired in October 2024, said she has heard from current agency staff that they are burned out and demoralized after being required to carry out sign changes and removals, adding, "That's the recurring theme … 'This isn't what I signed up for because this isn't who we are as an organization.'"
The Interior Department said experts and local park leaders were consulted as appropriate for removal decisions and argued that the directive strengthens public trust and helps visitors better understand the complexity of America's story. The department also said the database was edited before being inappropriately and illegally released to the media in ways that misrepresented the status of this effort, and said employees who altered internal records and leaked in an effort to hurt the Trump administration will be held accountable. A source familiar with the database confirmed the accuracy of its contents to CNN and said the changes were only in formatting.
Why This Matters:
The debate over national park exhibits reflects competing visions of how federal agencies should present American history, particularly as the nation marks its 250th anniversary. The administration's position centers on ensuring that public resources funded by taxpayers present a balanced narrative that acknowledges American achievements alongside historical challenges. The Interior Department's emphasis on consulting experts and local park leaders suggests an effort to maintain institutional credibility while implementing policy changes. However, the pending litigation and congressional oversight requests indicate that questions about the appropriate scope of executive authority over historical interpretation remain unresolved. The fact that federal courts have already intervened in at least one case demonstrates that judicial review may ultimately determine the boundaries of permissible content curation at federally managed sites. For an agency tasked with preserving historical sites while serving diverse constituencies, navigating these competing demands will likely shape public trust in the National Park Service for years to come.