The National Park Service is flagging books in park gift shops that may go against Donald Trump’s efforts to purge so-called “corrosive ideology” from American history.
According to internal records reviewed by the Washington Post, NPS employees were directed to report items that might run afoul of new regulations for review by last week. The directives come from a May 2025 order by Doug Burgum, United States Secretary of the Interior, entitled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”
The order calls for “the Secretary to review public monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties…including parks and museums” to remind Americans of “our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing.”
Among the titles flagged for review by employees were “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story” and “What Your Ribbon Skirt Means to Me: Deb Haaland’s Inauguration” by Alexis Bunten, a children’s story book about the first Native American to serve as U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
At South Carolina’s Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, flagged titles focused on the history of slavery, including books like Harriet A. Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and the essay collection “Slavery and Public History: The Tough Stuff on American Memory.”
The crackdown has drawn anger and indignation from historical authors and park advocates alike. Alan Spears of the National Parks Conservation Association blamed the Trump administration for forcing the hands of park employees.
“If park staff don’t comply with this directive, they may lose their jobs,” Spears said in a statement. “The administration is making their jobs harder and killing their morale, at a time when Park Service staff numbers dwindle near historic lows.”
Spears praised park employees for “teaching the facts about difficult topics like slavery, racism and climate change.”
“Americans count on our parks to tell truthful stories and accurate information,” Spears said. “The public can handle the truth.”
Marjory Wentworth’s “Shackles,” an award-winning children’s book about understanding slavery, was flagged by the NPS. She told Charleston’s Post and Courier she was “shocked but not surprised” by the news.
“There’s something about a picture book being brought into question that really indicates how far this government is willing to go to erase history. That has terrifying implications for all of us,” Wentworth said.
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