Park gift shops could remove books on slavery and the Civil War

National parks employees have raised the idea of removing books on slavery, Native Americans and George Washington from their gift shops as part of Trump officials’ efforts to scrub these popular sites of “corrosive ideology” that disparages Americans, accor

ding to internal records reviewed by The Washington Post.

Agency employees were required to report items for review by last week. The inventory of books possibly running afoul of the administration’s directive includes “The 1619 Project” on the history of slavery in America and a picture book about former Interior secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet secretary. Those works are sold at the Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie and Liberty Square park stores in Charleston, South Carolina, along with three other books on slavery and the Civil War that were flagged.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March that instructed the Smithsonian and the national parks to remove “improper ideology,” which could include discussions of historic racism and sexism.

Since then, the Interior Department, which oversees the Park Service, has issued policies instructing agency staff to report any information that might be out of compliance, including gift shop merchandise, signs, educational films and websites. Visitors were also invited to submit comments.

“This effort reinforces our commitment to telling the full and accurate story of our nation’s past,” Interior said in a statement. “As part of an internal process to assess which content may require review, staff at the park can submit materials identifying specific exhibits and interpretive panels.”

The department did not respond to questions about the gift shops or specific items under review.

Parks advocates have criticized the Trump administration’s directives as an attempt to whitewash history that has hurt morale among park staff who fear losing their jobs if they do not follow the directive.

“Our history is complex and, as national park advocates, we trust national park staff to navigate those complexities and do their jobs without interference,” said Alan Spears, senior director for cultural resources at the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group.

“Great countries don’t hide from or sanitize their history,” he added.

Staff also flagged a book at the Washington Monument’s gift shop that discusses the first president as “an enslaver” as a potential violation of Trump’s order.

One park employee reported a book called “Wives, Slaves, and Servant Girls: Advertisements for Female Runaways in American Newspapers 1770-1783,” saying “the park is flagging it out of an abundance of caution.”

Employees at the Charles Pinckney Historic Site in South Carolina reported half a dozen books on slavery, plantation life and Black history. Pinckney was an enslaver who helped draft the U.S. Constitution.

A Junior Ranger children’s booklet at Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial, will be reviewed for saying that Lee broke his promise to serve in the U.S. military and instead chose to fight for slavery.

The national park inventory system also includes staff reports on signs and other informational items that were submitted for review. A previous call for visitors to report problematic signs yielded thousands of comments largely supporting the parks or opposing the administration’s cuts to park staff and budgets.

Most of the items flagged by parks staff highlighted references to slavery, the Civil War or civil rights without commenting on what should be done about them. Some employees flagged signs that reference climate change, such as a note about sea-level rise at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina.

Another employee flagged a reference to the “Gulf of Mexico” at Emerald Mound along the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi.

While many parks reported very little to the administration, some appeared to take a more cautious approach in flagging items.

In one instance, an employee reported a sign next to a statue of President Franklin D. Roosevelt at his memorial in Washington for discussing his paralysis from polio.

“I recommend keeping it but am concerned that it may be seen by some as disparagement,” the comment reads.

Others appeared to support changes. One staffer wrote “replacement needed” for a sign at Russian Bishop’s House at Sitka National Monument. The sign explains that missionaries worked to destroy indigenous cultures and languages across Alaska.

In response to the administration’s actions, a group of historians, librarians and data experts at the University of Minnesota at Twin Cities has launched a “Save our Signs” project, encouraging people to post images of signs to preserve information that could be removed.

“Real history is not just happy stories,” the website reads.