At least 10 signs in Great Smoky Mountains National Park have been identified by the National Park Service to be removed under an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. In March of last year, the president accused the parks of distorting history, and ordered the Department of Interior to remove exhibits if they “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
According to a federal leak of data first reported by The Washington Post, as many as 39 exhibits, signs, films, brochures and other materials in seven national parks across Tennessee have been flagged.
The hundreds of signs posted at overlooks, pull-offs, trails and visitors centers are known as waysides. They’re a big part of the experience for guests of national parks across the country, and often provide context that helps people understand the past, present and future of the public lands around them.
“It's important that our society understands the past,” said Phil Francis, a retired staffer at Great Smoky Mountains National Park who served as its deputy superintendent for 11 years. “And if we remove signs and literature from the public knowledge, the things that happened then may reoccur.”
Trump calls his mandate, “restoring truth and sanity to American history.” He considers narratives critical of slave-owners or industrial development which drives climate change disparaging.
According to the leaked data, signs at Cades Cove, Newfound Gap, the Sugarlands Visitor Center, Kuwohi and Oconaluftee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park were flagged for review and possible removal by the administration in July 2025. Exhibits at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Stones River National Battlefield and Shiloh National Military Park have also been targeted.
Under Trump’s order, the NPS has until July 4, 2026 – America’s 250th birthday – to erase the language.
Signs targeted in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- “Eastern View,” “Southern View” and “Northern View” signs at Kuwohi Tower
- “Blue, Like Smoke” wayside on the Foothills Parkway
- “What Was It Like?” sign at Look Rock Tower
- “Fish Tales” wayside on Newfound Gap Road
- “Land of Blue Smoke” wayside at Newfound Gap
- “How’s the Air Quality Today?” sign at the Sugarlands Visitor Center
- “Leave No Stone Unturned” wayside at Enloe Cemetery
- “Working and Serving” wayside at Cades Cove
Staff at Great Smoky Mountains National Park did not immediately respond to questions about the fate of these signs. One targeted exhibit about the history of slavery in the Smoky Mountains is less than five years old, and was installed with funds raised for the park by the non-profit Friends of the Smokies. Others have been around much longer, and talk about human-caused climate change or the Civil War.
While it’s unclear whether any of the signs have been or will be removed, the threat from the White House is real. Last year, an exhibit about slavery at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia was removed in a public display which drew criticism from local protestors. Francis says no administration ever exerted this kind of control during his 41 years with the National Park Service.
“America has a history,” he said. “Not all of it is good. It's just like every place else, right? And we should aspire to do better.”
The American Association of State and Local History, headquartered in Nashville, says the removal of these and other signs in national parks across the country is wholly unprecedented. AASLH President and CEO John Dichtl says it feels dystopian.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had this kind of censorship from the White House saying, ‘There are certain kinds of history that are ideologically improper,’” Dichtl said. “How can you talk about a full, complicated, rich history of America without talking about the good things and the bad things that happened?”
The AASLH has joined up with five other nonprofits across the country to file a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service seeking the restoration of signs that have already been removed across the country, arguing that the federal government has broken its own rules.
“We want to restore public access,” Dichtl said. “We're hoping to stop the removals and reverse them and put things back the way they were.”
The lawsuit has been filed in Massachusetts, where Dichtl says it likely faces a months-long legal battle to restore access to historical materials. The Department of Interior did not respond to a request for comment.
