AMNA NAWAZ: Well, deep divisions# over how Americans remember their## past are coming into sharper focus as the# nation approaches its 250th anniversary.

Judy Woodruff reports for her# series America at a Crossroads.

ALAN SPEARS, National Parks Conservation# Association: So this is kind of## like the heart of the Gettysburg# battlefiel.. JUDY WOODRUFF: On the hallowed# grounds of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,## where in early July 1863 there were# as many as 51,000 American casualties,## the worst of the Civil War, Alan Spears# discovered a story he hadn't known.

ALAN SPEARS: I had to come here, I don't# know, 10, 11, 12 times before I actually## walked past the interpretive marker that# told me about Abraham Brian and his family.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Growing up# in nearby Washington, D.C.,## Spears early on discovered a love of bullets# and bayonets.

But in his 20s, he spotted a## sign that led him to a different story.

This# parcel had once been home to Abraham Brian,## a free African American who fled as Confederate# forces approached ahead of the battle.

ALAN SPEARS: You have got the house# and barn of a free African American.## You have got the 11th Mississippi# Infantry Regiment fighting for the## cause that they believed in using that# house and barn as a guide on point.

Abraham Brian and his family left# here because they were afraid that## they might be captured by Confederate forces# and sent South into slavery.

It's almost the## entire history of America and the American# Civil War just captured in a few acres.

Those were the Confederate# positions on Friday, July 3.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Spears works in cultural affairs# at the National Park Conservation Association,## a nonprofit that advocates for the# parks.

And he worries that this is## exactly the kind of history now at# risk under the Trump administration.

ALAN SPEARS: There are some folks who feel# like, in the name of combating diversity,## equity and inclusion, in the name of fighting# or combating or pushing back against wokeness,## that we have to restore our history# to a point where it simply celebrates## everything that's happened in this country.

And if you have challenging elements of our# history, the forced removal of indigenous## people and tribes, the issue of slavery,# emancipation, the civil rights movement,## those sorts of things, those elements# complicate our national narrative.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Last year, President Trump signed# a flurry of executive orders related to DEI,## including this one, "Restoring Truth# and Sanity to American History."

"Over the past decade," it says, "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."

The order directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum# to -- quote -- "ensure that all public monuments,## memorials, statues and markers focus on the# greatness of the achievements and progress of## the American people and the beauty, abundance# and grandeur of the American landscape."

Burgum ordered a review of sites across the# country and asked visitors to report any## information that may violate Trump's order.

Late# last year, reports of removals began to pop up.

NICHOLE MALLETTE, New York City Resident: We will# not be erased.

We will not go back in the closet.

JUDY WOODRUFF: From LGBTQ history# to climate change to women,## perhaps most visibly at Philadelphia's# Independence National Historical Park,## once home to George Washington# and his wife, Martha.

There, the NPS staff in January removed an## exhibit about nine of the slaves# Washington kept at the property.

KIMBERLY GEGNER, Pennsylvania Resident: We're a# group that's being asked to forget our history,## to forget our past.

And that's# kind of been a hallmark of## our ancestry in this country is to just forget.

STEPHEN NELSON, Philadelphia# Visitor: Every country, every nation,## every part of the world has parts in# their history that they don't like and## that are wrong.

But you can't just take# that out and pretend it didn't happen.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The city of Philadelphia# sued the Department of the Interior and## the Park Service over the removal.

And a judge,# quoting George Orwell's 1984 in her opinion,## ordered the panels returned last month while# the lawsuit makes its way through the courts.

The Department of the Interior didn't respond# to our request for an interview or for comment.

BRENDA HAFERA, The Heritage Foundation: There's# more awareness that we have swung too far,## particularly with DEI initiatives.

And that's# part of why this administration was elected.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Brenda Hafera is a# scholar with The Heritage Foundation,## the conservative think tank in Washington,## where she's heading up the organization's# own review of historical sites across the## country.

She says the Trump administration's# actions are a necessary correction to what## had become systematic bias in favor of DEI# and away from accuracy and proportionality.

BRENDA HAFERA: You can distort things in two ways,## by overemphasizing and disproportionately# focusing on the negative, or you distort## things by whitewashing history.

And# neither of those are acceptable.

JUDY WOODRUFF: She points to Mount Vernon# as an example of a place doing it right.## She gave it A for its inclusion of George# Washington's life, his time as a general,## and as the first president, as well as# for exhibits about the people he enslaved.

She says the Philadelphia exhibit, however,# placed too much emphasis on slavery,## to the exclusion of other important# stories occurring at that place.

BRENDA HAFERA: The nation is just beginning,# and the things that Washington had to face,## the decisions he had to make, how he's laying# out what the executive branch will look like,## because everything he does sets a precedent.# So you could talk about these things.

But according to the city journal, there were# 30 exhibit panels, and 25 of the 30 discussed## race and slavery.

I think it's good that# we're having these public deliberations in## the public square to ask these questions# of what should we become commemorating,## what should these look like,# what is the proper balance?

ALAN SPEARS: I think that there are people# who are overly concerned about balance,## because they're not seeing that we have# had to come from almost nothing to get## to a point where we have a minimum amount# of information available to the public at## these places about race, about labor, about# women's rights, about the LGBTQ experience,## and these things that are important,# equally important, in American history.

Fighting has gone from being long-range,## being hit by artillery as soon as# they came out from those trees.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Back at Gettysburg,# Alan Spears says the National Park## Service spends years working on exhibits# and public information at these sites,## enlisting experts from across# disciplines to make careful decisions.

ALAN SPEARS: What we have seen in the last 13## months is an administration that is# willing to come in and say, well,## we don't really study history necessarily.# We just think that sounds wrong.

We think it## complicates the story.

We think it denigrates# Americans, and so we're going to take it out.

And so it's that arbitrary and# capricious nature of the way## these decisions are being made and the total# lack of transparency that really bothers us.

JUDY WOODRUFF: His organization has joined# other scientific and preservation groups in a## lawsuit against the Department of the Interior,# arguing that the removals violate federal law.

BRENDA HAFERA: I think any truthful# commemoration of the American story## will be celebratory, because# that's accurate, because this## is a good country that has contributed a# lot and has moved towards human freedom.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It's all a reminder that,## as we approach 250, this debate over# our past will continue into our future.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Judy# Woodruff in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.