Save Our Signs Archives 17,236 Park Photos as Trump Targets 400-Plus Sites
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 7
Save Our Signs Archives 17,236 Park Photos as Trump Targets 400-Plus Sites
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 7
Summary
17,236 photos had been uploaded by Aug. 3 to Save Our Signs, a crowdsourced archive launched last July to preserve National Park Service signs before removals or edits.
The project grew after NPS staff were told to flag or remove signs on slavery, Indigenous history and climate change if they were deemed to disparage Americans or promote a “corrosive ideology.”
Hundreds of volunteers have submitted images from nearly every national park and historic site, and the archive already holds “before” photos from places where signs were later confirmed removed or altered.
More than 400 parks and historic sites are being tracked, with contributors still trying to fill gaps at lesser-visited locations such as the Niobrara and Missouri national river sites.
The archive is advancing even as the legal fight shifts: a June order to restore removed signs was narrowed in July when an appeals judge said the Interior Department no longer had to reinstate all of them.
As crowdsourced archives race to preserve thousands of national park signs, what legal precedents will ultimately decide the fate of public historical records?
Beyond simply saving physical signs, what hidden stories of public response are being secretly documented within this rapidly growing digital library?
With over 17,000 photos collected by August 2026, how might this massive citizen-driven digital archive reshape the future of historical preservation?