HARPERS FERRY, WV — On Juneteenth, former park rangers, educators, civil rights advocates, federal workers, historians, and community members will gather at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park to launch America 433+, a national public education and civic action campaign responding to the Trump administration’s censorship and erasure of materials across America’s public lands and institutions.
The gathering follows Friday’s federal court ruling ordering the administration to restore removed historical and scientific materials by July 4, and halt further removals. The court cited a leaked internal National Park Service database showing more than 500 items identified for review and found that, NPS had already removed or identified hundreds of interpretive materials, including dozens of signs related to Indigenous Knowledge, climate change, civil rights, slavery, LGBTQ+ history, labor history, women’s suffrage, and other vital American stories.
The Department of the Interior responded by attacking the ruling as politically motivated and said it was reviewing appeal options.
But America 433+ organizers say the ruling confirms what park rangers, historians, and educators have warned since the administration’s attacks on the parks began: public history belongs to the public, and the National Park Service has both a legal and civic duty to tell the full American story.
At Harpers Ferry, the coalition will move a public call to action by launching a petition urging Congress to fulfill the promise of the National Park Service: protect historical integrity, restore staffing and resources, defend scientific and educational independence, and ensure that national parks can continue telling the full American story. And to reiterate the court ruling’s remedy: return all censored materials to national parks and sites by July 4.
The park has an average of 2000 daily visitors that will be given the opportunity to participate and learn together at one of the most consequential sites in American history to offer a different vision of commemoration—one rooted in freedom struggles, democracy, public memory, and civic participation.
Long associated with John Brown’s raid and the struggle to end slavery, Harpers Ferry remains a powerful symbol of America’s ongoing fight over freedom, citizenship, and who gets to tell the nation’s story.
Former Harpers Ferry ranger Elizabeth will share her firsthand experience documenting the stories of the Black raiders who joined John Brown’s fight against slavery and discuss how efforts to censor that history threaten public understanding of one of the most important chapters in American history.
America 433+ takes its name from the more than 433 sites that make up the National Park System, including battlefields, historic sites, monuments, memorials, trails, seashores, and national parks. The campaign brings together Resistance Rangers, Branch 4, Race Forward Action, Public School Strong, and the Zinn Education Project in a growing coalition dedicated to protecting public lands, public memory, and the full American story.
America 433+ Juneteenth Teach-In: Defending Public History and the Full American Story
Friday, June 19, 2026
1 PM – 4 PM
Speaker Program starts: 1:30 PM
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
171 Shoreline Dr, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Anna Bakalis
Comms@Branch-4.org
323-770-4477
