A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to cease removing historical content at national parks, dealing a temporary blow to the White House’s yearlong effort to recast the nation’s history in a loftier light.
Judge Angel Kelley of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts also ordered the Trump administration to restore historical material that parks altered or removed, to include signage and exhibits mentioning issues like slavery and climate change. The court order sets a sweeping task for parks across the country amid preparations to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
National parks preserve the “good, the bad, and the ugly” of American history, said Kelley in her decision Friday to grant a preliminary injunction, which temporary hobbles the Trump administration’s park changes until the judge issues a final ruling.
“The Government’s stewardship of these park sites thus carries a responsibility to present history in full rather than in favored fragments,” Kelley wrote. “Unfortunately, the Government has disregarded these principles.”
The Interior Department said Monday that the administration is considering its appeal options and noted that Kelley was appointed by Biden.
Kelley’s decision grants a temporary victory to park advocacy groups challenging the Trump administration’s influence over how the National Park Service tells U.S. history.
President Donald Trump last year ordered parks to ensure their historic material does not “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living … [a]nd instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.”
What followed was a sweeping internal review by parks ordered by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, which revealed hundreds of potential conflicts with Trump’s mandate, including references to slavery, Japanese-American incarceration during World War II and other historical abuses. Interior has noted that not all flagged material is being removed.
The National Parks Conservation Association and six other advocacy and history groups sued the Trump administration in February after a smattering of high-profile removals of historic content at parks. The most expansive action was the agency’s deconstruction of an installation on slavery at the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, a former residence of George Washington.
The slavery exhibit, which explored the lives of nine enslaved people the Washington family brought to Pennsylvania when Washington was president, was the most comprehensive park memorial to be taken down under the Trump order. The exhibit was partially reinstalled under a separate court ruling, and the administration was barred from installing a replacement exhibit, but the judge has not issued a final decision in that case.
Emily Thompson, executive director of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, one of the groups that brought the lawsuit, said Friday parks should not be “propaganda tools nor should they be used for partisan purposes.”
“They exist to preserve and interpret the full American story, not just the parts that make some politicians comfortable,” she said. “This ruling is an important step to help ensure that remains the case.”
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which is representing the Trump administration’s challengers in the lawsuit, said the groups were grateful that the court not only stopped further changes but also ordered restoration of exhibits that have been removed.
The court decision came several days after NPS quietly ordered a pause on compliance with Burgum’s history order, according to an internal message viewed by POLITICO’s E&E News.
Jason Gibson, NPS acting associate director of interpretation, education and volunteers, told regional directors on June 9 that the order was on pause “for the time being.”
“Parks can continue to submit items for review, but implementation actions should pause pending further guidance,” Gibson wrote.
NPS did not respond to questions about the pause.
