Interior Department Looking to Ban Historical Books from National Park Service Bookstores

For nearly a month I have been looking at exhibits and signage that may be withdrawn from the National Parks following the president’s Executive Order to “restore sanity” in the telling of our history at the parks. I have found some sites where the books for sale at the giftshop have also been identified to potentially stop selling them. These pictures were taken by the Interior Department which apparently never takes a photo straight. I also don’t know whose hand that appears in the pictures are.

For many of the books, the front cover is photographed as well as the back cover. Except for the first book, I am not including the back cover. There are more books that I am not reproducing here.

This book ties the study of the history of slavery in Maryland with the Battle of Antietam.

Next is a book of quotations from Black people that was put together by Dover Press.

A guidebook to African American history is also on the list of potentially banned books.

During the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War the National Park Service began facilitating popular books on underrepresented communities. This one looks at Hispanics. It also includes information on the Civil War in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Clint Smith’s award-winning book on how we tell the story of slavery at parks and in the media.

Next is a book on Black Union veterans work for equality after the war.

Eric Foner’s classic work on Reconstruction has also been nominated for banning.

There is also a National Park service booklet on slavery as a cause of the Civil War.

Another National Park book on the Reconstruction Era has also been flagged for possible removal

The final book is The Slaves War put out by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Here are some more books that I found that have also been submitted to the Interior Department as possible violators of the presidents order. I will keep looking in other files to see if there are books that have not been in the three files where I discovered those on this page.

And of course we wouldn’t want to embarrass John Wilkes Booth with this volume.

Even the great historian Brian Kilmeade get tagged for running down the United States.

Below are some of the Young Adult and Children’s books that have been identified by Interior Department staff as possibly violating the president’s Executive Order:

The first is about African American life as slaves.

Next is a book that was inspired by three modern children who dug up shackles.

Here is a book on how a freedmen’s school helped a community to thrive.

Next is an 18th Century autobiography of a child stolen in Africa and sold at least three times before purchasing his freedom.

Harriet Jacobs’s book is among the most popular written by an enslaved woman. It is on the block.

If you look at the books that are under consideration, they are not issued by the Communist Party. Most are written by scholars and they come from well-known presses. Two were written by formerly enslaved people. No one has to hide these books when your parents come over, they are not embarrassing at all.

The president’s Executive Order says that some of the National Parks harm the “United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.” The president says that proper history should “foster unity.” He writes that “Rather than fostering unity and a deeper understanding of our shared past, the widespread effort to rewrite history deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame.” The president sketches out how the National Park Service should approach history:

“It is the policy of my Administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing. ”