Judge Blocks National Parks From Removing ‘Negative’ Signs and Depictions of Slavery

Skip to contentSkip to site index Today’s Paper Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Supported by SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Judge Blocks National Parks From Removing ‘Negative’ Signs The ruling accused the Trump administration of engaging in censorship by taking down materials at parks across the country.

Listen · 4:09 min An outdoor exhibit on slavery at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, seen last year, was taken down in January.Credit...Hannah Beier for The New York Times Maxine Joselow By Maxine Joselow Reporting from Washington A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the National Park Service from removing or revising signs, films and other materials at national parks across the country to comply with a directive from President Trump.

The ruling pauses enforcement of an executive order that called for removing or covering up materials at national parks that “inappropriately disparage Americans” or cast the United States “in a negative light.” The judge, Angel Kelley of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, also ordered the Park Service to restore within three weeks any exhibits that it had dismantled or altered.

The ruling provides a temporary reprieve for the plaintiffs, a coalition of advocacy groups that sued over the executive order in February, while the litigation continues to unfold. To comply with the president’s directive, the Park Service has taken down plaques about slavery at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, a sign about climate change at Fort Sumter in South Carolina and a sign about Indigenous people at Acadia National Park in Maine.

Another federal judge has already ordered the Park Service not to make further changes to the slavery exhibit at the President’s House Site at Independence National Historical Park, as she considers a separate lawsuit filed by Philadelphia. Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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