Internal documents reviewed by The Washington Post reveal the Trump administration's sweeping effort to scrub America's parks of inconvenient truths, from slavery to civil rights to climate science.
The submissions paint a picture of park rangers scrambling to comply with orders to remove content deemed "disparaging" to America. At Cape Hatteras, officials flagged a brochure mentioning aviator Samuel Langley's failed flight attempts. At Glen Canyon, staff questioned whether condor conservation displays might offend hunters.
Park officials flagged slavery autobiographies at Ford's Theatre, exhibits about segregation at historic civil rights sites, and even books about Thomas Jefferson's children with Sally Hemings at his memorial. A Junior Ranger booklet at Arlington House had to be scrutinized for stating that Robert E. Lee "broke his promise and fought for slavery."
"At Harpers Ferry, site of abolitionist John Brown’s raid in 1859, an employee singled out a document that describes how a 'mob murders' an abolitionist. 'Does this denigrate the murderers?' the employee wrote. 'We can reword to: ‘Abolitionist editor Elijah Lovejoy is murdered for his views.’'"
Other submissions expressed concern about light pollution affecting turtles and merchandise reading, "Well-behaved women seldom make history."
Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, argued the order contradicts what rangers stand for: “Park rangers everywhere, and all park employees for that matter, have been passionate about telling true stories about history, and about science. It’s a real affront to the values that rangers have.”
A federal judge already slapped back the administration, comparing removed slavery displays to the mind control in Orwell's "1984."