HARPERS FERRY, W. VA. — Former National Park Service rangers hosted a Juneteenth teach-in at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park on June 19, 2026, to share historical information removed from federal land under the Trump administration. The event followed a federal judge's ruling earlier in the week mandating the reinstatement of historic materials across national sites.

U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley ordered the government on June 12, 2026, to cease further removals and replace materials already taken down. Her ruling specified that 52 items must be returned to more than 30 federal sites by July 4, 2026. Reinstatement was scheduled to begin the week of June 22, 2026, and Kelley declined a government request to extend the deadline. In her order, Kelley wrote, "History cannot be faithfully told while excluding the experiences of communities whose contributions, struggles, and achievements form an important part of our Nation's story."

The National Parks Conservation Association and other advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the Department of the Interior in response to an executive order President Trump signed on January 1, 2025. Titled "restoring truth and sanity to American history," the order led to the removal of dozens of exhibits as the nation prepared for its 250th anniversary. The order stated, "Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation's history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth." It further claimed, "Under this historical revision, our Nation's unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed."

Former park workers organized under the name 'Resistance Rangers' and helped establish an education coalition called America 433+, referencing the 433 sites in the National Park System. Elizabeth Kerwin, a former National Park Service exhibit planner at Harpers Ferry, spent years developing an exhibit highlighting hundreds of enslaved people connected to the park. The building intended for the exhibit remains empty with locked doors and boarded windows, though a sign at its entryway reads 'African-American History.' It is currently unclear if Kerwin's exhibit will be reinstated.

Advocates and former federal workers are conducting protests and teach-ins to honor the country's diversity and history. The Resistance Rangers have printed copies of banned pamphlets to provide visitors with removed information. Melissa Dalley, a former park guide at the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site in New York and a member of the Resistance Rangers, said, "The only way that change has ever happened in this country is through a small, committed group of American citizens working really hard." She added, "What we're doing out here is trying to recruit those people into that citizen army." The group has planned a national protest for June 21, 2026, to collect signatures for a 'declaration of interdependence' advocating for safety, dignity, living wages, and access to a clean environment.