{"id":183795,"date":"2025-08-29T03:40:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T03:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/183795\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T03:40:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T03:40:09","slug":"independence-national-historical-park-prepares-for-scrutiny-following-trump-executive-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/183795\/","title":{"rendered":"Independence National Historical Park prepares for \u2018scrutiny\u2019 following Trump executive order"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"06-22-24-trump-rally-selects-abhiram-juvvadi\"\/
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tPresident and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump during his campaign rally on June 22, 2024.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: Abhiram Juvvadi<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Exhibits in Old City\u2019s Independence National Historical Park are under review following an executive order signed by 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump in March.\n<\/p>\n

The order<\/a> \u2014 titled \u201cRestoring Truth and Sanity to American History\u201d \u2014 called for the restoration of federal parks, monuments, and statues that have been altered or removed since Jan. 1, 2020 \u201cto perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history.\u201d It further instructed museums and institutions to remove descriptions or depictions that \u201cinappropriately disparage Americans past or living.\u201d\n\t\t<\/p>\n

In May, the Interior Department expanded on the executive order with a secretarial order<\/a> which required all changes and upgrades to be completed by July 4, 2026 \u2014 the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The order also instructed parks to collect public feedback through QR codes included in their signage.\n<\/p>\n

In a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian, an INHP representative said that the park has \u201cnot been directed to remove or change any existing interpretive media in the park.\u201d\u00a0\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

However, in accordance with Section 5b and Section 6 of the Secretary’s order, the National Park Service is evaluating all public comments submitted via QR codes displayed throughout the park during this review period. These include \u201ccompliments on park programs and services, notes on maintenance needs, and suggestions for correcting potential inaccuracies or contextual imbalances,\u201d according to the INHP representative.\n<\/p>\n

The representative added that interpretive materials which \u201cdisproportionately emphasize negative aspects of U.S. history or historical figures\u201d without acknowledging broader context or national progress can \u201cunintentionally distort understanding rather than enrich it.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

According to The New York Times<\/a>, the INHP exhibits that have been currently marked to be reviewed are a panel at the Liberty Bell, the President\u2019s House outdoor exhibit, and displays acknowledging the federal government\u2019s relationship with Native American tribes.\n<\/p>\n

With over three million people visiting annually, INHP<\/a> is among the most prominent historic sites in the country, housing both Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Trump’s executive order<\/a> claims that the prior administration sponsored training by an organization that supports dismantling \u201cWestern foundations\u201d and \u201cinterrogating institutional racism\u201d \u2014 adding that this \u201ccorrosive ideology\u201d must be abolished.\n<\/p>\n

This effort to alter existing exhibitions has raised concerns from the Philadelphia community.\n<\/p>\n

Penn communications professor Michael Carpini said the order is an attempt to \u201ccreate an image of the country as if it has no blemishes.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proximate cause is that the Trump administration is trying to eliminate any or most references to diversity and the more troubled parts of American history,\u201d Carpini said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

He emphasized that the Trump administration is using its power to \u201cintimidate institutions.\u201d \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you see happening is this vicious circle in which the Trump administration is going after a variety of different types of institutions, in the false hope that they might be able to avoid some of his worst wrath,” Carpini added.\n<\/p>\n

Throughout the past year, the Trump administration has similarly been targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at Penn, demanding that its schools scrub references<\/a> to these initiatives.\n<\/p>\n

Carpini noted that INHP is a target of the Trump administration because it is a \u201cmajor source\u201d of the way that people think and learn about history.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\tSign up for our newsletter<\/p>\n

Get our newsletter, DP Daybreak, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s one of the reasons why they’re going after higher education like Penn,\u201d Carpini said. \u201cThose are the places that really are holders of information, educators and trainers of the citizenship of the next generation.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Carpini warned that even small edits to cultural organizations can result in large impacts on the nation\u2019s civic memory. He expressed concern that as visitors view the exhibits in “their new, sanitized version,” they may not recognize that the sight reflects any “controversy.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThey may not know that there was an alternative way of thinking about this history, and they will be suddenly socialized to a vision of American politics that erases the history of a large segment of our population and problematic nature of the things we’ve done as a country,” Carpini said.<\/p>\n

The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation<\/a> to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.<\/p>\n

Donate<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump during his campaign rally on June 22, 2024. Credit: Abhiram Juvvadi…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":183796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,8432,24255,50,1448,2830,1311,277,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-183795","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-beats","10":"tag-front","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-pa","13":"tag-pennsylvania","14":"tag-philadelphia","15":"tag-trump","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}