Judge Angel Kelley Orders Trump Administration to Restore National Park Exhibits on Slavery and Climate Change

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate exhibits and informational materials removed from national parks and monuments, finding that the removals constitute a form of historical censorship. Judge Angel Kelley of Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction requiring restoration within 21 days, blocking what conservation and history organizations characterized as a sustained effort to limit public understanding of American history.

The ruling emerged from a legal challenge brought by the National Parks Conservation Association, the Association of National Park Rangers, the American Association for State and Local History, and four additional organizations. These groups argued that the Department of the Interior had engaged in a coordinated campaign to remove signage and displays addressing slavery, civil rights, Indigenous history, and climate change from more than 430 national park sites nationwide.

The Executive Order and Its Implementation

The removals stemmed from an executive order signed in March 2025 titled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History." The directive tasked the Department of the Interior with identifying materials added to monuments and memorials after January 2020 that the administration characterized as representing a "false construction of American history." At one Georgia monument, The Scourged Back—a historically significant photograph depicting scars on an enslaved person—was flagged for potential removal, drawing public attention to the scope of the initiative.

The administration framed the policy as necessary to ensure parks "tell the full and accurate story of American history," positioning the changes as a correction to what officials described as revisionist narratives portraying the United States as inherently flawed. This effort aligned with broader White House actions targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across federal institutions.

The Court's Decision

In her ruling, Judge Kelley wrote that removing these materials "sets a dangerous precedent of censorship and sanitization." She noted that the administration's actions, presented as promoting American dignity, in fact share "a limited history by ordering the removal of all signs, displays, and interpretive exhibits at national parks that do not align with its preferred narrative, thereby telling half-truths."

The judge emphasized that the removals violate congressional mandates governing how national park sites should operate and that the Interior Department's policy lacks reasoned explanation for why specific exhibits must be eliminated. The 21-day compliance deadline coincides with the 250th anniversary of American independence, a detail Judge Kelley included in her order.