Park Service Is Ordered to Take Down Some Materials on Slavery and Tribes
The Trump administration ordered a famous Civil War-era war image removed from a National Park Service site in Georgia as it moves to promote what it considers a more positive view of American history.
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A photo of a man who escaped slavery at a medical examination in Baton Rouge, La., in 1863, after the city fell to Union forces.Credit...Library of Congress
By Maxine Joselow
Reporting from Washington
Sept. 16, 2025
The Trump administration has ordered several National Park Service sites to take down materials related to slavery and Native Americans, including an 1863 photograph of a formerly enslaved man with scars on his back that became one of the most powerful images of the Civil War era.
The moves by the administration were outlined in internal emails reviewed by The New York Times and two people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The directives stemmed from President Trump’s executive order in March that instructed the Park Service to remove or cover up materials that “inappropriately disparage Americans,” part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to promote a more positive view of the nation’s history.
Critics say the effort could lead to the erasure of the contributions of people of color, gay and transgender people, women and other marginalized groups.
At Fort Pulaski National Monument in Georgia, Trump officials have directed Park Service staff to remove a reproduction of “The Scourged Back,” the famous photo that depicts the formerly enslaved man, who was known as both Peter and Gordon, exposing severe scars on his back from whippings, according to the emails and one of the people briefed on the matter.
The Washington Post first reported on the directive to remove the photo. Elizabeth Peace, a spokeswoman for the Interior Department, the parent agency of the Park Service, said in an email that “all interpretive signage in national parks is under review.” She accused media outlets of spreading “false claims” and “misinformation” about the review, although she did not specify what information was incorrect.
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At Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia, Trump officials have instructed park employees to take down a sign that criticizes the post-Civil War “Lost Cause” ideology, which romanticized the Confederacy and denied slavery’s central role in the conflict.
The sign at Manassas, the site of two major Southern victories during the Civil War, was erected last year during the Biden administration. It describes the 1940 dedication of a monument to Thomas Jonathan Jackson, a Confederate general who earned the nickname “Stonewall” during the First Battle of Manassas in 1861.
“The dedication ceremony perpetuated Lost Cause mythology, however, emphasizing Confederate valor and ignoring slavery as the central cause of the Civil War,” the sign says.
Mr. Trump’s executive order in March specifically flagged exhibits at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia for review, claiming they advanced “corrosive ideology.” Credit...Hannah Beier for The New York TimesAt Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, officials plan to substantially alter an exhibit that memorializes nine people enslaved by George Washington. Mr. Trump’s executive order in March specifically flagged exhibits at Independence National Historical Park for review, claiming the Biden administration had advanced “corrosive ideology” there that taught visitors that “America is purportedly racist.”
And at Arlington House in Virginia, the former home of Robert E. Lee, who led the Army of Northern Virginia on the Confederate side, Trump officials have instructed park staff to stop using a booklet that was designed to teach children about slavery, said Stephen Hammond, a descendant of people who were enslaved at the house.
Trump officials determined that two sentences in the booklet, which has been given to children participating in the Park Service’s Junior Ranger program, ran afoul of the president’s executive order, Mr. Hammond said.
“In 1829, Robert E. Lee promised to serve the Army and protect the United States,” the sentences say. “In 1861, he broke his promise and fought for slavery.”
During the Biden administration, the Park Service asked descendants of enslaved people at Arlington House, as well as descendants of Mr. Lee, to help tell a more complete story to visitors of all ages.
“We think that this space could be used as a place for conversation, healing and repair,” Mr. Hammond said. “So to have this booklet targeted is really a disappointment for us.”
Stephanie McCurry, a professor of history at Columbia University who studies the Civil War and the Reconstruction era, said it was impossible to separate slavery from the history of these sites.
“There is no history of the U.S. without slavery in it,” Dr. McCurry wrote in an email. “It is impossible to edit it out or bury its horrors. The evidence is everywhere and can’t be destroyed, certainly not in one presidential administration.”
At several other national parks, the Trump administration has ordered the removal of signs and other materials that state that the land once belonged to Native American tribes, according to one of the people briefed on the matter.
Tribes were forcibly removed from lands across the American West that later became national parks. For instance, the U.S. military forced the Shoshone, Bannock and other tribes from what is now Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.
The National Gallery of Art in Washington houses the original version of “The Scourged Back,” also known as “Whipped Peter.” Reproductions of the photo appear at Fort Pulaski, where the Union Army successfully tested rifled cannons in 1862, as well as other Park Service sites with connections to the Civil War.
The photo was widely circulated in the 19th century, providing a shocking image of the brutality of slavery that helped fuel support for the abolitionist movement among white Northerners. It was widely shared again in 2020, when Black Lives Matter protests surged globally following the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police.
“The ‘Scourged Back’ photograph shocked the nation and the world with its honest depiction of the vicious nature of slavery,” said Alan Spears, senior director for cultural resources at the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group. “The decision to remove this photograph from the interpretive displays at national parks is as shameful as it is wrong.”
Mr. Trump’s March executive order directed Park Service employees to flag materials by mid-July that could be changed or deleted. It said the administration would begin removing all “inappropriate” content starting this Wednesday, Sept. 17.
The executive order also took aim at the Smithsonian Institution, saying it had “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology.” In a social media post last month, Mr. Trump accused the Smithsonian of focusing too much on “how bad slavery was” and not enough on the “brightness” of America.
The administration has given the Smithsonian’s museums until December to adjust any content that it finds problematic in “tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.”
Maxine Joselow reports on climate policy for The Times.
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