Updated June 5, 2026 at 4:41 PM EDT
The National Park Service is slated to remove informational panels from the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston featuring quotes about suffrage, immigration, abolitionist and anti-war movements, according to reporting from the Washington Post.
The Post reported the plan to take them down was prompted by a visitor’s complaint.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of the Interior, which manages the park service, called the removal “a routine exhibit refresh.”
Over the past year, President Trump has sought to scrub national monuments, museums, parks and other historical sites of markers that the administration claims cast the country’s “founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.” Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 ordering multiple departments examine their exhibits for “improper ideology.”
In practice, the policy has forced federal workers to remove factually accurate exhibits about climate change and slavery from national parks and monuments. A lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston has challenged these efforts by the administration.
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, who represents Massachusetts, posted three photos on social media Thursday of panels that he said are targeted for removal. The signs each feature historic quotes about suffrage, immigration, slavery and anti-war movements related to the monument.
“Congress must not fund Trump’s campaign of censorship,” wrote Markey.
Here are the quotes Trump's NPS is trying to erase at the Bunker Hill Monument. Congress must not fund Trump's campaign of censorship. pic.twitter.com/zmv3QCYB9N
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) June 5, 2026
In a statement to WBUR, Markey accused the Trump administration of trying to “silence” American history and voices.
“But I know real Americans’ patriotism doesn’t need censorship to survive — American patriotism is backed by our freedom to speak and be heard,” Markey said. “And the Administration should learn from all the lessons of Bunker Hill: America was built on the fight for that freedom.”
In a statement, Gov. Maura Healey cited Massachusetts’ role in the abolition movement and expanding civil rights.
“As we celebrate MA250 and America250, it is a disgrace that President Trump is attempting to erase voices and perspectives from one of our nation’s most important historic sites. That’s not preserving history. That’s censoring it,” she said. “President Trump doesn’t get to decide which parts of our history are worth remembering.”
In an emailed statement, an Interior Department spokesperson said, “Through President Trump, we have encouraged Americans to visit our cultural and historic sites and engage in meaningful conversations about the moments that have shaped our country.”
The monument commemorates the Battle of Bunker Hill, a bloody battle between the Revolutionary and British forces on June 17, 1775. The obelisk marking the site of the battle was dedicated in 1843.
Inside the museum next to the monument, panels display quotes and images from famous figures sharing their perspective on the battle and monument at various moments in more recent history. (The quotes also appear online as audio clips on a page called “Bunker Hill Memory.”)
On Friday morning, Jason Powell, who grew up north of Boston and now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, visited the site after the news came out to take pictures and document what would be removed.
He gives tours and used to be a history teacher. He said it’s important to “understand the history that we’ve had … the civil rights movement, the immigrants and their impact on us as a country [was] really vital.”
He pointed out one of the quotes Markey’s social media post indicated would be removed. It was from a letter in Boston’s Catholic newspaper published in 1875 asserting that “citizens of foreign birth take no second place.”
“Frankly, we are a nation of immigrants, right? This removing of this particular quote from the Irish Society talking about foreign-born men in the Revolution is absolutely absurd,” Powell said.
Among the other panels Markey posted online is a quote from civil rights activist and journalist William Monroe Trotter at an address on Bunker Hill Day in 1925.
“Colored Americans were here that day fighting with other patriots, our own ancestors, of whom we are justly proud and on whom we base our claim for full liberty and equality as citizens,” Trotter’s quote reads.
Another is from abolitionist and suffragist Lucy Stone, who wrote about her perspective of the monument for the Women’s Journal in 1889.
“The woman sufferance battle is like that of Bunker Hill — not won today, but sure to be later. Meantime, Bunker Hill Monument is our monument,” Stone wrote.
Reginald Carson was also visiting the museum on Friday. From Gloucester, he said he’s been to the monument and walked the Freedom Trail many times.
Carson said he’s not surprised that it appears the quotes will be removed, saying the Trump administration has taken other actions to “remove history that makes people uncomfortable,” But, he said, it’s sad.
“ You should be able to question your past, and if you can’t, then you will just— you’re beholden to the powers that be as opposed to your own conscience and morals,” Carson said.
Stefan Bobot stopped by the museum while visiting from Nashville. He’s planning to play music with friends at Porchfest over the weekend. He said he’s “indifferent” to the quotes being removed.
“I think this is a monument to the Revolutionary War, not any— nothing else, and so let’s keep it that way,” he said.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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