Historians Under Fire: Two Case Studies of Federal Censorship in the National Park Service

Gail Dubrow, University of Minnesota

Historians Under Fire, Session 132A, Buckingham Room

January 9, 2026, 3:30pm-5:00pm CST

American Historical Association

139th Annual Meeting, Chicago

I am an architectural historian and a professor at the University of Minnesota. For more than thirty years, my work has focused on public history, historic preservation, and the social history of the built environment. Throughout my career, I have examined how power operates through place—whose histories are preserved, whose are overlooked, and how preservation can either reinforce or challenge patterns of exclusion.

My scholarship and public-history practice have centered on women’s history, Japanese American history, LGBTQ+, and, more recently, disability history. My work is rooted in community collaboration and place-based initiatives carried out with students, community partners, and public agencies, such as the National Park Service (NPS). These collaborations have taken the form of thematic studies, landmark nominations, historic context documents, and both scholarly and professional publications.

Many of today’s panelists are addressing the direct impacts of federal edicts and right-wing vigilante attacks on their lives and careers. My focus today is on the public interpretation of history at historic sites, buildings, and landscapes. Since the start of the second Trump administration, the rollback of policies supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA) has directly affected public historians’ ability to provide evidence-based interpretation of place-based history. The timeline I have provided documents key moments in this process and points to efforts intended to resist censorship.

In the brief time I have to share remarks, I want to focus on two projects that have been deeply affected by these authoritarian policy shifts: first, the U.S. LGBTQ theme study, and second, an NPS initiative to guide the preservation and interpretation of American disability history.

The first example is the U.S. LGBTQ theme study, published in 2016 by the NPS as LGBTQ America, edited by Megan Springate. Consisting of dozens of essays by academic and community historians, the document underwent rigorous peer review before publication and won an award from the Vernacular Architecture Forum for its contribution to making queer history visible at the nation’s historic places.

From 2016 through 2024, the study was publicly available and used widely in preservation and interpretation work nationwide. However, beginning with the second Trump administration, as transgender people became a primary target of hostility, public access to the study declined. In mid-February 2025, the NPS edited the Stonewall National Monument website, removing the words “transgender” and “queer” and altering key acronym usage. By early March, the LGBTQ theme study itself was no longer accessible on the official website.

The response was immediate. Advocacy organizations and historians condemned the removals and pressed for the restoration of accurate language and access. Later that year, a congressional letter signed by dozens of House members called for reinstating the Stonewall references and raised concerns about a broader pattern of erasure.

One key lesson from this experience is that the primary stakeholders and potential organizers of resistance are the contributors to now-banned projects. The networks built through this work will survive censorship efforts and present strategic partnerships for navigating a deeply problematic landscape.

In this case, independent community-based organizations with their own web domains have played an instrumental role in hosting materials removed from government-controlled sites. Reports and documentation that vanish from federal websites can survive through alternative hosts. Currently, LGBTQ America is available through the website OutHistory, founded by historian Jonathan Ned Katz and now led by San Francisco State University professor Marc Stein, whose leadership also helped ensure that this panel would address LGBTQ censorship. The same counter-cultural strategies that organized to make queer history public can evade and outlast institutional restrictions in transphobic times.

A second example I want to share concerns the NPS-initiated Disability History Handbook. In 2021, the agency convened scholars and activists to guide future work in preserving and interpreting places significant to disability history. The project was conceived both as a scholarly resource and as an institutional step toward consulting with impacted communities about their heritage.

The study reflects decades of scholarship and activist practice in disability studies and disability history, and it represented a commitment within the agency to engage stakeholders often excluded from public participation by ableist assumptions. The handbook was originally scheduled to be completed in fall 2024; however, the substantial collaborative process dangerously extended the project timeline into the second Trump administration. By March 2025, the Disability History Handbook had completed peer review, revisions, and copy editing. Shortly after, however, NPS quietly but firmly ended its association with the project, including its publication and May 15, 2025, scheduled launch event at the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site.

Through the significant efforts and urging of contributors, along with editor Kathleen Brian’s leadership, a contract to publish a revised version of the anthology was secured with the University of Illinois Press. It is scheduled for release in January 2027. As with LGBTQ America, publication through an academic press means the anthology will be released simultaneously in paperback and as an open-access manuscript. The original plan to publish the document through the USGPO would have ensured distribution throughout the NPS system. Still, the fact that this work will reach readers at all is a testament to Brian’s and the contributors’ persistence and to their collective deployment of resources within their networks.

These examples illustrate how the flood of Executive Orders on history issued by President Trump has created precarity in the production and sharing of knowledge for public historians and stakeholders striving to interpret the histories of previously excluded groups. Compounding this problem is the wholesale exclusion of proposed projects that address DEIA themes from federal funding, whether through contracts or grants. Combined with direct attacks on scholars and activists committed to revealing the history of inequality in America, these struggles deeply affect the pipeline of public historians prepared to tell the truth about the nation’s past and present, both in academia and in public venues.

As someone who has spent the past three decades preparing graduate students for meaningful careers translating evidence-based historical scholarship into the preservation and interpretation of historic places, I feel deeply concerned about the current wave of censorship. I urge those assembled at this meeting to make your voices heard in defense of our collective heritage. Accurate interpretation of history in public spaces matters not only for those sites themselves, but for the public’s ability to understand and value the full breadth of American history.

Timeline of Selected Federal Actions Affecting Inclusive Public History, 2021–2026

Accompanying resource for Gail Dubrow’s presentation, “Historians Under Fire: Two Case Studies of Federal Censorship in the National Park Service.” Included as a part of the Historians Under Fire (Session 132A). Prepared by Laura Leppink.

2021

Throughout 2021, the National Park Service (NPS) initiates internal conversations about developing a Disability History Handbook as a national-level interpretive resource grounded in current historical scholarship and intended for broad public use. During the year, NPS convenes a public community forum bringing together disability advocates, activists, and scholars to identify major themes, significant sites, and interpretive priorities in United States disability history.

Following this forum, an invited scholars’ roundtable is held to discuss proposed essay topics, authorship models, editorial standards, and the scope of work for the handbook. Participants in both settings raise sustained concerns about process and power, emphasizing that disability justice and intersectionality should shape not only the handbook’s content but also its development methods, decision-making structures, and collaborative practices. These discussions establish early ethical and methodological expectations for the project.

2022

In 2022, amid intensifying national backlash against what conservative lawmakers and advocacy organizations label “Critical Race Theory” in education and cultural institutions, NPS reassesses the pace and structure of the Disability History Handbook project. While these political campaigns are not initially directed at disability history, they contribute to a broader climate of scrutiny surrounding interpretation that addresses structural inequality, including race, colonialism, gender, and disability.

In response to feedback raised by 2021 participants, NPS slows the handbook timeline and revisits questions of collaboration, accessibility, authorship, and governance. Kathleen Brian is brought on as editor, and the project is formally launched under a revised framework emphasizing not only the inclusion of disability within existing narratives, but also how thinking with disability might reshape how the National Park Service produces public history.

2023

Throughout 2023, contributors work collaboratively on essay drafts for the Disability History Handbook, with an emphasis on place-based history, accessibility, and disability justice principles. The project is publicly described by the National Council on Public History (NCPH) as a multi-authored, nationally significant interpretive resource led by the National Park Service Park History Program and developed through extensive scholarly and community collaboration.[1]

2024

During 2024, contributors complete revisions to handbook essays following extensive peer review by subject-matter experts, readers unfamiliar with disability history, and National Park Service staff. By late 2024, the Disability History Handbook is positioned internally within NPS as a flagship national interpretive resource. Participants describe the project entering the final stages of review, copyediting, and production planning during this period.

2025

Beginning in early 2025, federal executive actions and Interior Department implementation guidance dramatically reshape the conditions under which public history is produced, interpreted, and disseminated across federal cultural institutions. These actions generate cascading effects for National Park Service interpretation, digital content, publication practices, and partnerships. Over the course of the year, professional historical organizations increasingly frame these interventions as direct threats to scholarly independence, ethical historical practice, and public trust.

January 20, 2025

President Donald J. Trump signs Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”[2]

January 29, 2025

President Trump signs Executive Order 14190, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling.”[3]

February 5, 2025

The American Historical Association (AHA) and the Organization of American Historians (OAH), joined by numerous affiliated scholarly organizations including the National Council on Public History, issue a joint statement opposing Executive Order 14190, rejecting its characterization of history education as ideological indoctrination and warning that it threatens evidence-based historical practice and academic freedom.[4]

February 13–14, 2025

Reporting confirms that the National Park Service removes the words “transgender” and “queer” from the Stonewall National Monument website, narrowing the site’s public description of the 1969 uprising.[5]

February 14, 2025

GLAAD publicly condemns the Stonewall edits as historical erasure that distorts the record of the uprising and the role of transgender activists.[6]

February 19, 2025

The New York City LGBTQ Historic Sites Project issues a public statement opposing the removal of transgender and queer histories from federal interpretation of Stonewall.[7]

March 4, 2025

The National Parks Conservation Association condemns the erasure of LGBTQ history from National Park Service digital platforms, warning of political interference in historical scholarship and public trust.[8]

March 17, 2025

NPS communicates to NCPH partners that it cannot print, distribute, host, or publicly launch the Disability History Handbook; the planned May 15 launch event at the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site is postponed indefinitely.

March 27, 2025

President Trump signs Executive Order 14253, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”[9]

March 31, 2025

The Organization of American Historians issues a formal statement condemning Executive Order 14253 as a federal intrusion that undermines historical expertise and encourages politically constrained narratives.[10]

March 31, 2025

The American Historical Association releases a statement defending the Smithsonian Institution, asserting that Executive Order 14253 misrepresents historical scholarship and threatens the independence of public history institutions.[11]

April 5, 2025

“Hands Off!” protests occur nationwide, with demonstrators citing attacks on civil rights, LGBTQ history, disability rights, and public education.[12]

May 20, 2025

The Department of the Interior issues Secretary’s Order 3431 to implement Executive Order 14253 across Interior-managed agencies, including the National Park Service.[13]

June 14, 2025

“No Kings” demonstrations are held nationwide, protesting perceived authoritarian governance and political control over monuments, museums, and national memory.[14]

June 18, 2025

The Organization of American Historians issues a statement responding to Secretary’s Order 3431, warning of censorship and political interference in National Park Service interpretation.[15]

June 30, 2025

The American Historical Association formally endorses the OAH statement responding to Secretary’s Order 3431.[16]

July 11, 2025

GO Magazine reports that additional edits to the Stonewall National Monument website quietly remove most references to bisexual people.[17]

July 25, 2025

Disability Rights California warns that new federal directives related to homelessness and mental health threaten civil rights protections for disabled people.[18]

August 18, 2025

The Urban Institute reports that new federal homelessness policies risk violating the rights of people with psychiatric disabilities.[19]

August 25–26, 2025

“Protect Our Parks” rallies at Rosie the Riveter / World War II Home Front National Historical Park draw hundreds protesting political pressure on national parks and advocating inclusive interpretation.[20]

Late Summer 2025

A contract is secured with the University of Illinois Press to publish a revised version of the anthology originally developed as the Disability History Handbook.

December 2025

Reporting confirms Interior Department-directed reviews of National Park Service retail operations targeting merchandise associated with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility themes.[21]

December 31, 2025

Coverage of “Freedom 250” projections at the Washington Monument draws criticism for omissions related to slavery, Indigenous dispossession, Reconstruction, and Civil Rights history.[22]

2026

As of early 2026, professional organizations and advocacy groups continue to document downstream effects of Executive Order 14253 and Secretary’s Order 3431, including sustained pressure on interpretive content related to race, colonialism, disability, LGBTQ history, and environmental justice at National Park Service sites.

[1] Perri Meldon, “The NPS Disability History Handbook: Collaboration, Process, and Community,” National Council on Public History, December 7, 2023, https://ncph.org/history-at-work/the-nps-disability-history-handbook/.

[2] “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” The White House, January 20, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal-government/.

[3] “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling,” The White House, January 29, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-indoctrination-in-k-12-schooling/.

[4] American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians, “AHA–OAH Statement on Executive Order ‘Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling,’” February 5, 2025, https://www.historians.org/news/aha-oah-statement-on-executive-order-ending-radical-indoctrination-in-k-12-schooling/.

[5] Associated Press, “US Park Service Erases the Word ‘Transgender’ from Website Commemorating Stonewall Riot,” February 2025, https://apnews.com/article/3add180f5cfcde156f8d809d24e830a6.

[6] GLAAD, “Statements on the Removal of the Word ‘Transgender’ from the Stonewall National Monument Website,” February 14, 2025, https://www.glaad.org/releases.

[7] New York City LGBTQ Historic Sites Project, “‘Transgender and Queer People Cannot Be Erased’: Statement on Digital Erasure at Stonewall,” February 19, 2025, https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/2025/02/19/.

[8] National Parks Conservation Association, “Parks Group Condemns Erasure of LGBTQ History from Park Service Website,” March 4, 2025, https://www.npca.org/articles/7142-parks-group-condemns-erasure-of-lgbtq-history-from-park-service-website.

[9] “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” The White House, March 27, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/.

[10] Organization of American Historians, “Statement on Executive Order ‘Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,’” March 31, 2025, https://www.oah.org/2025/03/31/statement-on-executive-order-restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/.

[11] American Historical Association, “Historians Defend the Smithsonian,” March 31, 2025, https://www.historians.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Smithsonian_final.pdf.

[12] Dave Collins, “Angry Protesters Assail Trump Policies in ‘Hands Off!’ Rallies,” Associated Press, April 5, 2025, https://apnews.com/article/472c574303260cbac315367cc808960d.

[13] U.S. Department of the Interior, “Secretary’s Order 3431 – Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” May 20, 2025, https://www.doi.gov/document-library/secretary-order/so-3431-restoring-truth-and-sanity-american-history.

[14] Associated Press, “Photos of Anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ Demonstrations across the U.S.,” June 14, 2025, https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/no-kings-protest-trump-us-b5de52994b7c592034fb19b7d3e9d577.

[15] Organization of American Historians, “Statement in Response to Secretary Order 3431 and Censorship of History in the National Park Service,” June 18, 2025, https://www.oah.org/advocacy-statement/statement-in-response-to-secretary-order-3431-and-censorship-of-history-in-the-national-park-service/.

[16] American Historical Association, “AHA Endorses OAH Statement in Response to Secretary Order 3431,” June 30, 2025, https://www.historians.org/news/aha-endorses-oah-statement-in-response-to-secretary-order-3431-and-censorship-of-history-in-the-national-park-service/.

[17] Dan Tracer, “National Park Service Quietly Edits Out Bisexuals from Stonewall Page,” GO Magazine, July 11, 2025, https://gomag.com/article/national-park-service-quietly-edits-out-bisexuals-from-stonewall-page/.

[18] Disability Rights California, “Disability Rights California Raises Alarm on Trump Administration’s Cruel Executive Order,” July 25, 2025, https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/latest-news.

[19] Samantha Batko, “New Trump Policies Targeting Homelessness Threaten the Rights of People with Disabilities,” Urban Institute, August 18, 2025, https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/new-trump-policies-targeting-homelessness-threaten-rights-people-disabilities.

[20] Jana Kadah, “‘The Time of Need Is Now’: Rally at Rosie the Riveter Denounces Trump Attacks,” Richmondside, August 25, 2025, https://richmondside.org/2025/08/25/national-park-birthday-rosie-the-riveter-park-anti-trump-rally/; KQED, August 26, 2025, https://www.kqed.org/news/12053628.

[21] National Parks Conservation Association, “Administration Orders Sham Review of Park Gift Shops,” December 9, 2025, https://www.npca.org/articles/11230-administration-orders-sham-review-of-park-gift-shops.

[22] Dan Morse, “Washington Monument Illuminated on New Year’s Eve to Mark Country’s 250th,” Washington Post, December 31, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/12/31/washington-monument-250th-anniversary-lights/.