Article By Bob Cronin
A federal judge has ordered the administration to restore signs and exhibits at national parks addressing slavery, civil rights, climate change, and other subjects to comply with an executive order from President Trump. The directive issued in September had called for the removal of materials that “inappropriately disparage Americans” or cast the US “in a negative light.” US District Judge Angel Kelley’s order on Friday ordered the National Park Service to stop enforcing a Trump executive order and return the displays to their previous state within 21 days, the Washington Post reports, including those with information about marginalized groups.
“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,” Kelley wrote. A coalition of park, history, design, and science groups represented by Democracy Forward had sued, arguing that the Interior Department sidestepped legal and professional standards. Park advocates said the injunction shields sites from what they describe as an attempt to erase history and science, after staffs were directed to edit or pull content from at least 17 parks, including Glacier and Grand Canyon. An Interior spokesperson said the agency is reviewing appeal options.
The National Park Service has taken down plaques about slavery at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, climate change at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, and Indigenous people at Acadia National Park in Maine in keeping with Trump’s order. Kelley’s preliminary injunction prevents similar actions while the lawsuit is litigated, per the New York Times.
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