The Reconstruction Era National Historic Park is one of the newest sites in the National Park system. Created during the Obama Administration, it is located in Beaufort County, South Carolina in the Sea Islands. During the Civil War when Union forces occupied the area, most white slave owners fled the area, leaving behind thousands of enslaved African Americans.
I have been spending the last two months looking at the exhibits, artifacts, and signage that Interior Department employees have flagged for possibly being against President Trump’s 2025 Executive Order telling the Interior Department, of which the National Park Service is a part, to review everything at the National Parks and find items and verbiage that should be redacted.
Last year the president issued one of his first Executive Orders calling for the National Park Service (NPS) to restore “sanity” in telling United States history. In the Fall of 2025 the Interior Department ordered individual sites to identify signage and exhibits that violate the new executive order. I have been examining the sites which have submitted controversial exhibits to their superiors for removal or rewriting. At the end of February, insiders at the Interior Department leaked those exhibits which are being considered. The photos in this article were taken by employees of the Interior Department and submitted as potentially violative of the Executive Order.
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. ”
