In a timely response to perceived threats to public history, historians, librarians, and a dedicated corps of volunteers have mobilized to document and preserve a range of artifacts across the Smithsonian Institution’s museums and sites overseen by the National Park Service. The initiatives have gained urgency amidst concerns that the Trump administration’s recent policies threaten historical narratives.
Two primary volunteer organizations—Citizen Historians based in Washington, DC, and Minnesota’s Save Our Signs—are working diligently to catalog thousands of items. Their efforts focus on everything from plaques detailing Indigenous histories at California’s Muir Woods to the bilingual interpretations of artworks at the National Portrait Gallery, and significant narratives of slavery at Independence National Historical Park.
With the aim of safeguarding diligently curated historical narratives, these groups are compiling comprehensive databases. This undertaking comes in light of the administration’s efforts to alter content displays.
Jim Millward, a professor at Georgetown University with expertise in China and world history, along with Chandra Manning, a historian focusing on 19th-century America, were particularly alarmed upon encountering a letter issued by the Trump administration to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch in August. In response, the pair founded Citizen Historians, a volunteer initiative that captured more than 31,000 photographs in five weeks, representing 56% of the exhibits in the Smithsonian museum system.
The volunteer base has since expanded to over 750 individuals from the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia area. Interest surged after NPR showcased their work last week.
Manning, who previously worked as a park ranger, expressed her alarm over the Trump administration’s introduction of QR codes for displays at National Parks in May. This initiative encourages the public to report any signs or information deemed “negative” regarding historical or contemporary Americans or that undermines the beauty of landscapes and natural features. Staff members in the parks are likewise instructed to report such signage.
As Save Our Signs was addressing content changes prompted by National Parks orders, Manning shifted her focus to the Smithsonian, which had also come under similar scrutiny from the White House.
The manifestations of Trump’s pledged “content corrections” for the Smithsonian could result in significant ramifications, Manning warned. She stated, “It becomes easier to erase histories and perspectives when you can alter or remove them from physical displays.”
Millward and Manning collaborate with Georgetown graduate student Jessica Dickinson Goodman to develop a digital framework for storing and eventually disseminating the images taken by volunteers. Presently, documentation teams are organized according to exhibitions, with photos uploaded to a shared Google Drive. Each group is overseen by a “captain” who coordinates the task.
While Hanson acknowledges that their efforts may not match the professional standards adhered to by the Smithsonian, she asserts that having multiple sources of historical truth is vital. “This project provides an additional reservoir of truth, which is hard to suppress,” Goodman stated.
Millward hopes that the potential negative implications of the administrative actions never materialize, expressing that these executive orders are indicative of a lack of confidence in the narratives being presented. He likens the current situation to historical instances in China where truths have been obscured. He remarked, “The immense appeal of the largest museum complex in the world allows us to explore various stories and perspectives.”
Manning, Goodman, and Millward previously consulted with the Save Our Signs initiative before commencing their historical documentation project. This initiative, developed in partnership with the Data Rescue Project, consists of Minnesota librarians, historians, and volunteers nationwide, who have been identifying and recording instances of sign removals or alterations in a publicly accessible spreadsheet. Their website allows users to examine before-and-after images of modified signs, such as changes at Muir Woods in California, which stripped critical historical content related to Indigenous populations, women, and racism.
According to Molly Blake, a founding member of Save Our Signs and social sciences librarian at the University of Minnesota, the initiative has gathered over 10,000 images of signs in national parks, made accessible periodically through their shared Google Drive.
“Everything is at stake,” she emphasized, reflecting on the administration’s vague directive to remove so-called “negative” content. Recently, a significant photo capturing the horrors of slavery, titled “The Scourged Back,” was reportedly ordered for removal from Fort Pulaski National Monument in Georgia.
“Such photographs are crucial for understanding the traumatic realities of US history,” Blake stated. “True history encompasses more than just the uplifting narratives that make us comfortable.
Both Citizen Historians and Save Our Signs continue to strategize for long-term data storage, but their immediate priority is to capture and archive American history as presented by curators, historians, and government officials over generations. Though the Trump administration has signaled actions aligned with its content requests for both the National Parks and the Smithsonian beginning this month, the entire scope remains uncertain.
“The Smithsonian is a collective heritage, not owned by any one individual,” Manning reminded readers. “These artifacts and stories reflect our shared national patrimony, and it falls upon all of us to safeguard them.”
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