Harpers Ferry, location of John Brown's raid, ordered by Trump to remove exhibits on slavery

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After an order from President Donald Trump’s administration, certain exhibits, photos and references to slavery are being removed from the national historic park, the ACLU-WV said in a statement Wednesday.

Park officials confirmed to WBOY’s ABC affiliate ABC News 7 that they have been ordered to remove or cover displays “that have been determined by the Trump administration to disproportionally emphasize negative aspects of American history or historical figures.” (Trump administration is predictably denying the facts of these removals that everyone except them acknowledge)

“By sanitizing the brutal realities of slavery, the administration denies visitors the complete historical context necessary for informed citizenship in a democracy,” ACLU-WV Executive Director Eli Baumwell said in the release.

The ACLU said that the Trump administration is removing historical references to slavery nationwide as a way to remove “corrosive ideology” that “disparages historic Americans.” According to the ACLU, the administration is also asking park visitors to report possible violations of the order.

https://www.wboy.com/news/west-virginia/certain-exhibits-being-removed-from-harpers-ferry-under-trump-administration-order/

___John Brown was an American abolitionist in the decades preceding the Civil War. First reaching national prominence in the 1850s for his radical abolitionism and fighting in Bleeding Kansas, Brown was captured, tried, and executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for a raid and incitement of a slave rebellion at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859.

September 17, 2025
ACLU STATEMENT: Removal of Exhibits at Harpers Ferry is the work of propagandists, not public servants


The ACLU of West Virginia condemns the Trump administration's removal of exhibits that reference slavery from Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. This government-mandated historical amnesia is an injustice to the people who suffered under the conditions of chattel slavery, those who fought to bring an end to it, and all who have made it their mission to preserve the memory of this shameful time in our nation’s history.

“By sanitizing the brutal realities of slavery, the administration denies visitors the complete historical context necessary for informed citizenship in a democracy,” ACLU-WV Executive Director Eli Baumwell said. “Until this week, visitors to Harpers Ferry had the chance to learn about slavery and the struggle to end that evil institution as part of our local and national history by visiting this historical site. Attempts to re-write hard-to-face parts of our history is the work of propagandists, not public servants.”

According to news outlets, the Trump Administration has ordered the removal of the exhibits that reference slavery on the grounds that they promote a “corrosive ideology” that “disparages historic Americans.” The administration also asked park visitors to report the parks they are visiting for potential violations of his executive order.

ACLU-WV Advocacy Director Rusty Williams said, “While it’s not surprising that the administration would rather try to erase history than right the wrongs created by it, this move is deeply insulting to all West Virginians, especially Black West Virginians who were subjected to the cruelties of slavery.”

https://www.acluwv.org/en/news/our-statement-removal-exhibits-harpers-ferry-work-propagandists-not-public-servants