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Judge Angel Kelley ruled against the Trump administration's removals of historical exhibits from national parks, emphasizing the importance of including diverse American experiences. The Interior Department is now assessing its options to appeal this decision aimed at preserving historical accuracy.
Philadelphia Independence National Historical Park (Reuters)A court in Massachusetts on Friday ordered the Donald Trump administration to restore changes already made to National Parks, museums and landmarks to remove elements that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.” US District Judge Angel Kelley in Massachusetts noted that Trump’s executive order was meant “to rewrite the Nation’s history with a white-out pen.”
“History cannot be faithfully told while excluding the experiences of communities whose contributions, struggles, and achievements form an important part of our Nation’s story,” the judge wrote.
The Trump administration must also provide a status report every week describing the progress they’ve made with these changes, the judge wrote.
“Under the guise of promoting American dignity, this Administration seeks to share a limited history by ordering the removal of all signs, displays, and interpretive exhibits at National Parks that do not align with its preferred narrative, thereby telling half-truths,” Kelley wrote.
What Trump's executive order said
Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 directing the Interior Department — which manages parks, monuments and other designated land — to ensure public property doesn’t contain elements that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
The executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history” at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks instead said to “focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people” and “the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.”
‘Removing US history’
According to The Associated Press, this led to the removal or censoring of dozens of exhibits that share factually accurate and relevant U.S. history and scientific knowledge, including about slavery and climate change.
Many of the changes were at Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park, where the administration removed exhibits on the lives of nine people enslaved at the site in the 1790s under George Washington, the first US president. Other changes included removing a sign at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in Arizona describing basalt bubbles because it had an image of a visitor holding a Pride flag, while films on labor history were removed from the Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts.
Liberal activist judge: Interior Department
Kelley, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, ordered the signs and exhibits restored within 21 days, "by the 250th anniversary to properly honor the remarkable achievements of the United States."
The Interior Department in a statement called Kelley a "liberal activist judge" and said it was reviewing its options to appeal.
What petitioners said
The National Parks Conservation Association, American Association for State and Local History, and four other groups had argued that the Interior Department was removing signs and exhibits in violation of congressional mandates governing how the 433 national park sites should be operated.
Alan Spears, senior director for cultural resources for the National Parks Conservation Association, told AP that the ruling will help protect national parks from the administration's effort “to erase history and science at these one-of-a-kind places.”
“National parks belong to the American people and censorship of any kind goes against the values these places represent,” he said.
Bill Wade, executive director for the Association of National Park Rangers, another organization that brought the lawsuit, said this is especially good news for National Parks employees who “have prided themselves for being able to provide truthful, accurate and unbiased information."
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