A federal judge in Massachusetts has issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to restore all signage, exhibits, and interpretive displays changed or removed in national parks under the 2024 effort to purge negative language, and to complete the restoration by early July ahead of the United States’ 250th anniversary.

Judge Angel Kelley’s ruling requires the restoration of materials related to climate change, slavery, Indigenous history, and LGBTQ+ history, and also pauses further changes to these exhibits as the case proceeds.

The court’s decision follows a February lawsuit filed by conservation and historical groups arguing staff were forced to remove or censor historically accurate information and scientific content.

The ruling targets policies that critics say forced staff to alter or suppress exhibits presenting factual history, including topics like slavery and climate science.

The 63-page decision explicitly condemns the administration for promoting a narrowed historical narrative and for removing or altering content to fit a preferred viewpoint.

Interior Department officials criticized the ruling as a political move by a liberal judge and signaled possible appeals, while supporters say it restores full, accurate historical interpretation in national parks.

Judge Kelley described the changes as attempts to rewrite the Nation’s history by excluding the experiences of certain communities, insisting history should be told with no selective omissions.

Notable examples cited include removing enslaved-history exhibits at Independence National Historical Park, a Pride flag image at Sunset Crater Volcano, and labor-history films at Lowell National Historical Park.

Advocates from the National Parks Conservation Association welcomed the ruling as a safeguard against sanitization and censorship, emphasizing that parks should provide access to a complete American history.

Plaintiffs’ supporters argue the decision protects parks from erasing history and science, while park staff stress the importance of presenting unbiased, factual information.

The judge warned against rewriting American history and asserted that national parks must tell a full, factual story that includes both achievements and shortcomings.

The case stems from a coalition-led lawsuit filed in February 2026 alleging the Interior Department and National Park Service were erasing history and undermining science in response to a Trump executive order aimed at restoring truth and sanity to American history.