At America’s national parks in the Trump era, the arc of history bends toward revisionism
October 5, 2025
The National Park Service under President Donald Trump is looking to reshape what it tells Americans about their history. Park managers are under orders to make their stories more “uplifting.” But the history of slavery doesn’t lend itself to a happier narrative. At some parks, officials tell The Associated Press that brochures have been pulled for revision and employees have been told to purge references to “enslavers.” Even so, a guided tour at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, still presents an unflinching story from the town where John Brown mounted a violent raid to free the enslaved and stirred anti-slavery public opinion on the cusp of the Civil War.
