Former National Park Ranger Melissa Dalley, 49, speaks during the America 433+ teach-in at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park on June 19.KT Kanazawich for NPR hide caption HARPERS FERRY, W.
Va.— The summer of 2026 was going to be a triumphant debut for former National Park Ranger Elizabeth Kerwin.Kerwin, who used to be the exhibit planner at West Virginia's Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, had spent years building a wall of remembrance to highlight hundreds of enslaved people with ties to this historic site — a place best known for a violent raid that attempted to incite an uprising and end American slavery.Instead, the old stone building that was set to house Kerwin's exhibit has sat empty.
The door, locked.Its windows boarded up.
The only indicator of what might have been is a green sign at the top of the entryway."African-American History," it says.The would-be exhibit is one of dozens that were scrubbed from federal land by the Trump administration as the nation prepared to honor the 250th anniversary of the United States.These removals, which began after President Trump signed an executive order aimed at "restoring truth and sanity to American history," have prompted lawsuits and protests.
Elizabeth Kerwin, 58, poses for a photo ahead of the America 433+ teach-in at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park.Kerwin spent several years working on a new Black history exhibit, which was nixed by federal officials following an executive order from President Trump.
KT Kanazawich for NPR hide caption "Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation's history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than tr...