The Trump administration has ordered a review of several items at Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park — the museum where the Liberty Bell is kept — because they fall outside of Donald Trump’s anti-DEI rules, according to a new report.
The move is apparently part of a broader move to fight “corrosive ideology” at national parks, says the New York Times.
Independence Park is home not only to the Liberty Bell, but to Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were signed.
Back in March, Trump issued an order demanding the censoring of any information at federal parks, public monuments, or statues added since 2020 that “perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history.”
Federal employees had until last week to flag any displays or materials that failed Trump’s ideological purity test, according to the Times.
The “corrosive ideology” found at Independence Park reportedly includes a panel at the Liberty Bell describing its 1800s travel and which addresses the “systemic and violent racism and sexism that existed at the time.”
An outdoor exhibit at the President’s House — where George Washington and John Adams lived and conducted business while in Philadelphia — notes nine of Washington’s slaves and includes descriptions of the brutality that slaves faced. Under Trump’s guidance, that must also be censored.
Independence Park also has displays noting the contentious relationship between the U.S. and Native American tribes. They have been flagged by federal staff.
The Trump administration also allowed the public a period of time to offer feedback on Independence Park and the wokeness or lack of wokeness in its exhibits. The U.S. Interior Department received fewer than 20 comments, according to Axios.
The deadline for federal workers to remove all the “inappropriate” content from federally managed land and monuments is September 17, according to the Times.
Trump may be especially eager to get the Philadelphia sites censored to his liking, considering the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary will be celebrated in the city of brotherly love.
The celebrations are expected to draw many out-of-state visitors, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
