Reclaiming History 

— Parks, Caching, and a Woman Named Kiyo 

When traveling, we often have relied on our national parks to help us learn about the history of an area. Some of that history is sad, some of it is inspiring, and it can be both. As long as humans make history, it will show all aspects of human behavior.

This is changing. On March 27, 2025, Trump issued an executive order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” Agencies were directed to restore monuments that had been removed and to ensure that exhibits “do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.” The Smithsonian was also directed to remove “divisive, race-centered ideology.” Interior Secretary Burgum ordered all national parks to post signs asking visitors to report any information that tells a negative story about the site or its history.

In a social media post on August 19, Trump complained about what he called excessive focus on “how bad Slavery was.” He emphasized, “This Country cannot be WOKE, because WOKE IS BROKE.”

The Interior Department has already made significant changes to history, such as removing trans participation from the Stonewall National Monument that recognized a turning point in the LBGTQ movement. 

In September, The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration has already ordered the removal of exhibits related to slavery at multiple parks. The sites affected included Harpers Ferry in West Virginia (where John Brown fought against slavery) and the President’s House Site in Philadelphia.

Muir Woods removed an exhibit that was based on sticky notes that were on a permanent sign. The notes added context to the park’s history, highlighting the roles of women and the history of indigenous people.  Other signage removed have included the effects of climate change, the treatment of Native Americans, and Japanese internment  

KQED reports that reactions among park workers ranged from disbelief to anger. One park superintendent stated “Sometimes I’m raging. Sometimes I’m in denial.” The danger, however, is apparent. One ranger put it simply, “You silence the voices that are inconvenient to you, and you control history, you control the narratives.”

The Organization of American Historians agrees. It warned that the Executive Order “proposes to rewrite history to reflect a glorified narrative that downplays or disappears elements of America’s history — slavery, segregation, discrimination, division — while suppressing the voices of historically excluded groups.”

We can celebrate the ideals of our country and recognize that history often does not reflect them. Indeed, it is impossible to make the genocide of Native Americans, slavery, and other events look positive. At the same time, the ways that people have organized themselves, relied on their faith, and created movements that have changed the country are inspiring.  Can we really pretend that Wounded Knee and the Trail of Tears do not exist?

Manzanar is such a place, one we are in danger of forgetting. It was an internment camp in World War 2 that held up to 10,000 people of Japanese ancestry. A virtual cache explains that “is not for those seeking a physically beautiful place. It is dusty and hot in summer and snow-covered in winter. However, if you want to experience a meaningful and important historic site, you should definitely make this trip.”

It was particularly important for me because one of my teachers had been imprisoned there. We knew very little of her story. My parents told me she had been imprisoned there but it was never mentioned at school. We weren’t even taught about it.

Her intake form states that arrived at Manzanar with BA degrees in social science and math. It states that she might be employed as a semiskilled dressmaker or seamstress.  She had never been to Japan. Her camp number was 03023A.   She became a student teacher there.

It is a site where Trump’s executive order might be impossible to completely fulfill.  As long as there are traces of the camp it will endure, but how it is taught is at risk.  It would not take much to present a history that removes the pain people felt.  A changed paragraph here and there would be enough.  Ultimately what people might experience there depends on those of us who visit, and affirm the importance of truth.

If you have come there to cache, there is an attendant responsibility to protect it. The same can be said about other places where I have cached — from Wounded Knee to slave cemeteries or statue of Elizabeth Freeman, a slave who sued to become free. If you know the truth you have to defend it. It’s that simple.

At its best, the very act of geocaching stands against those who would want us to forget history. It is here where we can find places that are important to remember, to tell our own stories, and to share our memories. A long memory is an important defense against those who want to change what we know to be true. When history is being washed away, we must reclaim it and never forget.

 

“Any attempt to constrain or sanitize the stories that are told at Manzanar should concern every American,” said Naomi Ostwald Kawamura, executive director of Densho, an organization that documents the testimonies of Japanese Americans who were held in concentration camps. “I’m incredibly disappointed that this is happening in the United States because museums, monuments and memorials are public spaces where we can explore difficult history, confront our past, engage with what’s uncomfortable and then be able to imagine the future that we want to collectively share.”
                            — Victoria Namkung, The Guardian, June 26, 2025

 

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