Overview

• Park staff at Fort Pulaski National Monument were told to remove a reproduction of the 1863 photograph known as The Scourged Back, according to people briefed on the directive.
• More than 30 interpretive signs at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park were flagged as out of compliance, and content at Philadelphia’s President’s House site was cited for review.
• The National Park Service says exhibits are under review to ensure broader context and to avoid materials that disproportionately emphasize negative aspects of U.S. history.
• Officials are applying the policy broadly to topics including slavery, racism, sexism, LGBTQ+ rights, and the persecution of Indigenous people, according to reporting based on internal guidance.
• Historians and park advocates criticized the effort as censorship of difficult history, while the White House also presses the Smithsonian for content changes with Vice President J.D. Vance assigned a role.