Re-Writing(?) Our History: Our Take at HSAS

Ela Oksoy, Grade 11, News Editor

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In Executive Order 14253, Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, the Trump administration launched a new initiative in history education. The administration began to remove references to slavery, climate change, and LGBTQ history in national parks and monuments.

While some applaud the attempt to create a more “positive” American narrative, others denounce the whitewashing of history.

Common Sense investigates what HSAS (High School of American Studies) students and teachers think of this policy.

Officials have removed signs referencing climate change from national parks, such as Montana’s Glacier National Park. Xara Putney (‘29) maintains that “erasing news of [global warming] would just negatively impact our world more,” demonstrating a lack of accountability and concern for pressing international issues.

Meanwhile, Mr. Evans, a U.S. history teacher, criticizes the removal of informational displays about slavery in Philadelphia’s President’s House: “In order to deal with current issues that are often legacies of those historical wrongs, you have to talk about them.”

“We need an approach to history education that has balance,” he concludes. “The good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between.”

Ellery Sarig(‘27) agrees with this ideology: “It is possible to acknowledge the great that the United States has done to the world, but also the harm they have done to people.”

While exhibit labels come down, many question whether “restoring truth and sanity” is merely blatant politicization.

When asked about the Trump administration’s restoration of Confederate general Albert Pike’s statue, Sarig responds, “I have never fully understood why we should have Confederate statues when they lost the war. There’s no other country that would have memorials to people who fought to destroy the country and lost.”

Tamema Islam(‘26) also expresses her concern: “As a president, [Trump] should show that we feel so much remorse for that part of America’s history.”

Topics identified by the administration as “divisive” don’t stop at slavery and climate change, but extend to displays of LGBTQ pride.

When discussing the removal of the large pride flag at Stonewall National Monument, Clyde Brittelle(‘28) asserts that such issues should always be handled with care, as they are clash points in American politics. “I don’t feel like Trump has put any meaningful thought into this issue,” Brittelle comments. “He is simply motivated by hate, bigotry, and politics.”

Interviewed students at HSAS point out the need for objectivity and respect in history education. Coming months will illustrate whether backlash to the administration will be enough to curb efforts towards altering a shared history.