Parks Group Responds to Executive Order Targeting American History

WASHINGTON– Yesterday, President Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of the Interior to conduct a review of historic monuments, memorials, and similar properties for “partisan ideology.”

The executive order, entitled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” targets efforts to protect and interpret American history at institutions like the Department of the Interior, the Smithsonian Institution, and more.

The National Park Service, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior, is mandated by law to preserve, protect, and interpret American history per the 1916 Organic Act and 1966 National Historic Preservation Act.

More than two-thirds of the country’s 433 national park sites are dedicated to preserving and interpreting our nation’s history and culture. The agency manages more than 26,000 historic structures, and nearly 185 million historic artifacts

This new executive order specifically calls on the Secretary of the Interior to determine whether properties within the department’s jurisdiction, “have been removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history, inappropriately minimize the value of certain historical events or figures, or include any other improper partisan ideology.”

The order goes on to instruct Interior to take action to ensure “descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times), and instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.”

Alan Spears, National Parks Conservation Association Senior Director of Cultural Resources released the following statement in response to this order:

“Across the country, our national parks protect vital American history, from the birthplaces of American presidents to the birthplaces of our democracy. Our parks tell stories from the civil rights movement, the Civil War, and beyond.

“For more than a century, National Park Service staff have worked tirelessly to provide park visitors with a truthful accounting of the people and places at the center of that history. That truthful and factual accounting of history should not change, regardless of which political party is in power.

“The president’s executive order could jeopardize the Park Service’s mission to protect and interpret American history. The order puts all Americans on notice that this administration intends to review Interior Department monuments, memorials and other sites for so-called partisan ideology.

“While the exact impacts of that review are not yet clear, we know that the administration has already erased LGBTQ history from web content and historic sites managed by the National Park Service. Every American who cares about our country’s history should be worried about what people, places, and themes disappear next.”

###

About the National Parks Conservation Association: Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its more than 1.6 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org