Interior Department Is Looking At Material From Harpers Ferry That May Be Removed

For the last three weeks I have been looking through the hundreds of files that were leaked in the Department of the Interior covert review to see if the Department thinks that the literature and signage at National Park Service sites around the country violates the president’s Executive Order instructing the parks to tell a positive story of America’s past. The photos that are being reviewed that you will see on this page were taken by Interior Department staff because they thought they might be contrary to the president’s order that the National Park Service “restore sanity” to telling the story of United States history. In my examination, I can see that many of the questionable material has to do with African American history and several related topics.

The Harpers Ferry submissions in a few cases have identified questionable material highlighted in yellow. Rather than reproduce every exhibit or piece of literature that was submitted, I am only going to review those materials that were given some extra attention. So, for example, there was a general introductory flyer that was submitted. It has brief discussions of John Brown’s Raid, the Civil War history of Harpers Ferry, and Harpers Ferry’s important role in promoting Black higher education after the war had ended. I am not going to reproduce that here since I could not find any notes on it.

Harpers Ferry usually hosts about 400,000 visitors every year, making it a major site for historical tourism.

You would think that material on John Brown would be controversial, and it is for the Interior Department, but only in attenuated form. For example there is a timeline of the life of John Brown, but what is identified as questionable is the 1837 entry which says that a mob murdered abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy which made Brown commit to abolitionist work. This does not mean that other parts of the text might not be withdrawn, but it is clear that talking about an organized mob killing the anti-slavery publisher is a particularly questionable discussion.

The next brochure is about the post-war creation of a college for African Americans called Storer College. In other submittals at other parks, much literature and exhibits on education for Blacks seems to be subject to question. Back in my youth in the 1960s there was almost no mention of Black education at the National Parks. At a number of parks today though there are exhibits that identify Freedmen’s School that provided elementary education to both children and illiterate adults, as well as trade schools and colleges for Blacks that opened up during Reconstruction and continued even after the Reconstruction Era ended.

In this brochure the focus is on Storer College the Historically Black College at Harpers Ferry. The Interior staff highlighted in yellow the historically accurate statement that local whites tried to interfere with Black education, sometimes using violence against the students. This may violate the president’s order.

Next is flyer about Harpers Ferry’s role in the Civil War. The one questionable part in this flyer is the entry for April 15, 1861 which says that President Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers to help put down the rebellion. I am not sure why that is controversial. He did do it.

There is also a one-page sheet where John Brown’s Raiders are sketched out. Now it is possible that all of these men may be held as questionable characters, But I am not reproducing the entirety of this. The staff highlighted only the information on William Thompson, a neighbor of John Brown. What seems to be controversial is where the brochure says that after he was killed and his body was thrown into the river, the mob shot at the lifeless body for target practice.

Another controversial brochure deals with John Brown’s Raid, which I am sure most of you would expect to see on this list. If you go to Harpers Ferry you can listen to the tourists with a wide range of opposing views on the raid. Here, again, the staff highlighted the death of William Thompson. I am not really sure why this has attracted so much attention.

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. ”