The Executive Order and Its Reach
In March 2025, President Trump signed an order titled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," requiring the Interior Department (which oversees National Parks) and the Smithsonian to purge signs, exhibits, or materials that in the administration's view "disparage Americans past or living" or reflect a "corrosive ideology". The order has been interpreted by officials and park staff as targeting any mention of slavery, racism, sexism, gay rights, or the persecution of indigenous peoples.
One of the most notable casualties is the removal of "The Scourged Back," a famous 1863 photograph of an enslaved man named Peter, whose scarred back became a powerful abolitionist image. Additional content on slavery, climate change, and indigenous history is also under review or earmarked for removal in federal parks.
Smithsonian and Museum Targeting
The Smithsonian was directly ordered to review all exhibitions for "tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals" within 120 days. President Trump criticized the Smithsonian for focusing "too much on how bad slavery was" instead of highlighting American achievements and success, asserting that the institution's displays were "out of control". The White House announced intentions to expand this review to other museums nationwide.
Backlash and Historical Response
Historians, educators, and various advocacy groups have decried the move as a "whitewashing" of American history, comparing it to previous attempts to erase or soften references to contentious or tragic chapters in the nation's past. Critics argue that confronting the realities of slavery is essential to understanding U.S. history and that erasing these narratives undermines both education and collective memory.
What’s Happening in Practice?
Park Service employees have flagged material for removal, from junior ranger books to signage and famous photographs.
Public and internal reviews are underway, with some exhibits already taken down or slated for edits.
Legal and political challenges to the order are being mounted by congressional Democrats and history advocates.
The Stakes for Public History
This effort to reshape how American history is presented in federal institutions has met sharp resistance, with historians warning of a "chilling effect" and the potential loss of hard-won public engagement with America's most difficult subjects. For many, these actions symbolize a profound struggle over national memory and identity, and the future direction of public education in the U.S.
The practice is often used to cement the leader's power, legitimize the regime, and create a unifying national narrative. These revisions are enforced through propaganda, censorship, and control over education.
- Erasing political opponents: After consolidating power in the 1930s, Stalin's regime systematically erased the existence of executed or purged political rivals from photographs and official historical records. Figures like Leon Trotsky, a prominent leader of the October Revolution, were airbrushed from photographs and demonized in history books.
- Fabricating his own role: Conversely, propaganda magnified Stalin's importance during the revolution and exaggerated his influence alongside Vladimir Lenin.
- Creating a "usable past": Stalin oversaw the creation of a new, official version of Soviet history that framed the state as the successor to powerful pre-revolutionary rulers, such as Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great, to establish a long lineage of Russian autocratic power.
- Mythologizing the leader: Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea, is credited with single-handedly liberating the country from Japanese rule, though this was largely due to the Soviet invasion. The state continues to invent battles and heroic victories for the Kim dynasty that never took place.
- Rewriting the Korean War: The official North Korean version of the Korean War, taught in schools and presented in museums, portrays the conflict as a U.S.-led invasion rather than a North Korean one.
- Deifying the leadership: A personality cult is maintained by consistently rewriting the national story to portray the country's leaders as infallible, god-like figures who have been essential for its survival and prosperity.
- Mao and Deng: In 1981, following Mao's death, the CCP issued a resolution on party history to cement Deng Xiaoping's preeminence while continuing to uphold Mao Zedong Thought despite the catastrophic failures of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.
- Xi Jinping: More recently, Xi Jinping has used history to elevate himself. In 2021, the party passed a resolution on its history that frames a "continuous trajectory of revolutionary change" with Xi as the sole inheritor of the legacy of Mao and Deng.
- Book burning: On May 10, 1933, the Nazis held large-scale public book burnings, destroying works deemed "un-German," including books by Jewish authors and those with ideas that conflicted with Nazi ideals.
- Racial history: Chief Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg led an effort to rewrite history and science from a "National Socialist" perspective, creating a new, fake Aryan history to justify racial purity and anti-Semitic persecution.
- Scapegoating: Nazi propaganda consistently and baselessly blamed Jewish people for Germany's economic and social problems, as well as for its defeat in World War I.
- Silencing dissent: For nearly 40 years, Franco and his associates used state-controlled media and education to impose their official version of history, which celebrated his side while suppressing the memory of the Republican cause.
- Selective memory: Monuments were erected to honor Franco's fighters, while the persecution of political opponents and other atrocities were systematically erased from the national story.
Finally, here are several recent executive orders and official actions by Donald Trump (2025) that critics say are trying to reshape how U.S. history is presented in museums, schools, and public institutions. Many go beyond slavery, touching on race, gender, national identity, and ideology.
EXAMPLES OF ORDERS & ACTIONS
Executive Order 14253 — Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History (March 27/31, 2025)
This order directs federal agencies (including the Smithsonian, the Department of Interior, etc.) to review how American history is portrayed in museums, monuments, memorials, and other federal properties. International Bar Association+3The White House+3Wikipedia+3
It orders that monuments, statues, markers etc. be checked for any descriptions or depictions that “disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times).” Wikipedia+2The White House+2
Also calls for “reinstating any pre‐existing monuments, memorials, statues and markers that have been removed or changed” if they were removed or altered for reasons it sees as rewriting history or minimizing certain events/figures. Wikipedia+2The White House+2
“Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” (EO 14190, January 29, 2025)
This order prohibits K-12 schools from teaching material considered “anti-American,” “subversive,” or promoting certain ideologies (including “gender ideology” and “discriminatory equity ideology”). Critics see this as an attempt to limit what parts of history or identity are acknowledged in education. KQED+3Wikipedia+3The White House+3
It also reestablishes the 1776 Commission to promote patriotic education. The White House+1
Executive Order 14151 — Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing (January 20, 2025)
This order ends (or severely curtails) programs in federal government whose goals relate to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). That includes removal of DEI‐related positions, and removing references to DEI in some federal websites or materials. Wikipedia
Executive Order 14168 — Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government
This order defines “gender” strictly in terms of sex assigned at birth (“biological truth”), limits recognition of gender identity, etc. It also requires that federal documents etc. use “sex” instead of “gender.” This can affect how historical or identity narratives are framed. Wikipedia
HOW THESE RELATE TO ‘REWRITING HISTORY’ BEYOND SLAVERY
These orders involve things like:
Removing or modifying exhibits, monuments, or educational materials if they are judged to be “divisive,” or emphasize negative parts of history without “balance.” (E.g. “Restoring Truth and Sanity…” orders focus on emphasizing American “greatness,” “progress,” etc.) The White House+2KQED+2
Altering how gender, race, identity topics are presented (for example in DEI programs, or in school curricula). These are attempts to constrain what narratives are allowed. KQED+3Wikipedia+3Wikipedia+3
Reinstating monuments/statues removed in recent years (including Confederate ones) under the justification that their removal was part of a false or “partisan” rewriting of history. KQED+3Wikipedia+3The White House+3
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