Erasure in Action

SOS Removal Tracker

We are tracking news about signs that have been confirmed to be removed or modified. This information is collected from news reports or photos submitted to SOS, and can be viewed at:

z.umn.edu/removedNPSsigns

Image of empty stand where a sign used to be, with the shadow of a person holding a camera above their head

Sign removed at the President's House site, part of Independence National Historical Park. Photo taken Jan 30, 2026, and submitted to SOS.

At Risk: Leaked NPS Database of Targeted Materials

Screenshot of the StoryMap website, with the title: Digging into the Leaked NPS Data."

Screenshot of the StoryMap website, with background image of a censored sign from Independence National Historical Park. Via SOS Archive.

On March 2, 2026, an internal NPS dataset of materials flagged for review and potential removal or alteration was leaked to the public. It was first reported on by the Washington Post.

The data can be accessed at the Internet Archive and SciOp.

We have created a StoryMap visualization and a walk-through of what is at risk and what the data reveals:

Removed: Before and After Photos

See the full list of removed signs at z.umn.edu/removedNPSsigns. Below are some example before and after photos of signs that have been censored at NPS sites.

Independence National Historical Park:

On January 22, 2026, interpretive panels relating to the history of slavery in early America were removed from the President's House site in Independence National Historical Park, located in Philadelphia, PA. Volunteers have submitted photos of these panels to the SOS Archive page for this park, and some are included below. These photos can never replace the panels and exhibits, but they help us remember what we have lost. More photos of the President's House site are available on our SOS Archive - Independence National Historical Site page, and on our SOS Removal Tracker spreadsheet.

More details about the President's House site:

The City of Philadelphia immediately sued the park service to restore the signs, saying that the changes were in violation of a long-standing cooperative agreement between Philadelphia and the Park Service that requires consultation before any alterations could be made. A timeline and related documents are available for this lawsuit: Case: City of Philadelphia v. Burgum.

On Feb 16th, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe ruled in the city’s favor and ordered the National Park Service to restore the removed panels.

On Feb. 19, NPS employees began reinstalling panels. They stopped after only replacing about half of the panels.

On Feb. 20, the order was put on hold when U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas Hardiman said that the NPS could stop replacing panels, and that the exhibit, as it stood on Friday, must remain in place and the remaining materials must be preserved while the appeal is weighed.

On April 7th, 2026, the Trump administration uploaded digital renderings of replacement interpretive panels to the President's House Site NPS website. These proposed panels are set to replace the panels that were censored and removed from the President's House Site at Independence Historical National Park in Philadelphia in late January. The Trump administration’s proposed replacement panels minimize the horrors of slavery, omitting much of the information from the original exhibit. The Save Our Signs team created a side-by-side visualization of the original panels and the proposed replacement panels. Learn more and see the proposed changes here: z.umn.edu/PresHouse

More information:

Philadelphia Inquirer, January 22, 2026: The slavery exhibits at the President’s House have been removed following Trump administration push
Philadelphia Inquirer, January 22, 2026: Here are the signs the Trump administration removed from Independence Park
6ABC Action News, January 23, 2026: Slavery exhibits at President's House in Philadelphia removed after Trump administration directive
WHYY, January 28, 2026: Philly President’s House battle: City seeks to block attempt to ‘whitewash our history’ after slavery panels were removed from Independence Mall
New York Times, February 2, 2026: Judge Bars Further Changes to George Washington's Philadelphia House
WHYY, February 18, 2026: Judge orders the immediate restoration of Philly’s President’s House slavery exhibit
Politico, February 19, 2026: Federal judge orders Trump admin to restore slavery exhibit by Friday
WHYY, February 19, 2026: Philadelphia’s slavery exhibit is being restored at the President’s House
Philadelphia Inquirer, April 8: The Trump administration wants to sanitize George Washington’s role in slavery at President’s House
Philadelphia Inquirer, April 10: Trump administration can’t change President’s House panels for now, federal appeals court affirms
WHYY, April 10: Court blocks National Park Service plans to replace slavery exhibit at President’s House Site
Philadelphia Inquirer, April 11: How the Trump administration’s proposed panels would change President’s House

Philadelphia community documents sites of censorship:

(photos from SOS Archive)

Philadelphia community responds to censorship at the President's House Site:

Handwritten sign taped on brick wall stating : "We can only know hwere we're going if we know where we've been. Maya Angelou"

SOS volunteer submitted photos of artistic responses to sign removals from the President's House Site.

Photos from SOS Archive.

Several colored paper 8.5x11 papers with handwritten text saying "learn ALL history" and "History is real" taped over an empty NPS interpretive sign.

A handwritten sign stating: "Slavery was real." and a lime green post-it stating "Philly hates fascists." rest on a brick wall over a stack of printed papers.

A sign taped to a wall with printed text over a QR code stating: "Here are the signs the Trump administration removed from Independence Park."

A blank mounted TV screen on a brick wall, with five 8.5x11 color paper signs, with "Learn ALL history" handwritten on them, sit under the TV on top of a marble mantle.

Gateway National Recreation Area:

Volunteers submitted these before-and-after photographs of a display removed from Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, which is part of Gateway National Recreation Area in New York City. The Washington Post confirmed the removal on September 20th: “a display at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York City was taken down for making reference to historical events like slavery, Japanese internment camps and conflicts with Native Americans in describing the park system, according to two people familiar with the matter and photos reviewed by The Post.”

More information:

Washington Post, September 20, 2025: National parks remove signs about climate, slavery and Japanese detention:

Sign at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Gateway National Recreation Area. Photo taken June 2025.

Sign at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Gateway National Recreation Area. Photo taken late August 2025.

Muir Woods National Monument:

Volunteers submitted these before-and-after pictures of the first documented removal/modification of a sign under the Executive Order and Secretarial Order, of a sign called "Saving Muir Woods." Portions of the sign were reported to be removed from Muir Woods National Monument, CA, in July 2025.

More information on the history of this sign: