Sierra Club Statement on NPS Censoring of History at Independence National Historical Park

PHILADELPHIA - This week, the National Park Service removed an exhibitfrom Independence National Historical Park examining the legacy of slavery at the site.

The interpretive display, located at the President's House Site at the park, depicted individuals who had been enslaved by George Washington, along with a timeline detailing the history of slavery in America. Washington and John Adams both resided at the site during their presidencies.

The move is the latest action by the Trump Administration to whitewash American history at NPS sites. Over the spring and summer of 2025, the administration pursued a "review" of signs and exhibits at national parksand national monuments that came in conflict with Trump's executive order to "[restore] truth and sanity to American History." More than 1,000 items were flagged for review. In September, NPS also removed a famous 1863 photographof a formerly enslaved man with deep scarring on his back from an NPS site in Georgia. And in December, the Trump Administration removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenthas free entry days at national park sites, while adding Flag Day, which falls on Trump's birthday, as a fee-free day.

This month, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administrationfor refusing to release information related to the Administration's efforts to erase history on public lands.

In response, Jackie Ostfeld, director of Sierra Club's Outdoors for All campaign, released the following statement:

​​"The Trump Administration is trying to rewrite American history by subtraction, with scant transparency and minimal input from the American people. Let's be clear - this is a censorship regime, and Donald Trump has established himself as its editor-in-chief. Part of the role of the National Park Service is to tell every part of the American story so future generations may learn from our past. Conspicuously cutting entire chapters reeks of the very prejudice these sites are meant to memorialize."

Tom Schuster, director of Sierra Club's Pennsylvania Chapter, released the following statement:

"A strong country does not attempt to ignore or paper over uncomfortable parts of our history. A good leader acknowledges past wrongs and learns from them. The reason our democracy has survived for 250 years is because we embraced the aspiration of forming a more perfect union through constant improvements to justice and civil rights for all people. We cannot backtrack from that. We cannot deny historic harms and pretend we have been perfect all along. This action smacks of cowardice, encourages ignorance, and is a recipe for failure."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.