A sign titled “Hall of Shame” is no longer displayed in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge near Lawton, which first came to light through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Sierra Club. The signage referred to an exhibit about the American bison and what nearly led to their extinction.
The scrapping of the exhibit title follows Trump’s executive order, issued nearly a year ago, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” The order requested the Secretary of the Interior, Doug Bergam, to ensure federal properties promote America’s greatness, not “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
As a result, federal agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, began flagging materials that could be construed as problematic, as noted in Trump’s executive order.
The Sierra Club, an environmental political advocacy organization, obtained federal documents of the responses of the Department of the Interior and the USFWS following Trump’s executive order. One person reported a display titled “Hall of Shame” inside the Quanah Parker Environmental Education Center.
"It describes the systematic slaughter of the American Bison that brought populations to the brink of extinction. While the verbiage within the display is factual in providing the cause of the population collapse, the title could be interpreted as disparaging past Americans," the entry said.
When asked about the “Hall of Shame” display title that was taken down at the southwest Oklahoma visitor center, a USFWS spokesperson said, “The title of a display was removed in September of 2025. Overall content was not altered, and no other exhibits are being changed at this time.”
The spokesperson said that all wildlife refuge staff were asked to point out materials that may warrant clarification.
“Elevating an item for consideration does not mean it violates the Order, and it does not mean it will be changed,” the spokesperson said. “In the vast majority of cases across the system, flagged materials remain unchanged.”
Lewis Borck is the Horizon Endowed Chair of Native American History and Culture at the University of Oklahoma. He said he was not initially surprised by Trump’s executive order, as people in power have used their authority to steer the conversation of history. However, he did say he is concerned about the potential implications.
“When we start to see these types of institutionally embedded or encoded erasures of history, is when we start to see long-term acts of violence — whether it's social or physical violence — against the people whose histories are getting removed,” Borck said.
Borck noted that he hopes that the country can start to recognize the nuance and complexity of its history, even if it is not neat and is not necessarily easy to look back on.
“On a personal level, right, we all have periods in our past that we're not proud of,” Borck said. “I'm not particularly proud of the super intricate facial hair I had when I was really into rockabilly and punk back in the early 2000s. …I wouldn't be the person I am now if I hadn't walked in those boots.”
In his own life, he said he can’t do better without looking at the full scope of his past. The same goes for the nation.
“We can't build a better future with faulty information, right?” Borck said. “My hope is that things are going to change and we'll start to get comfortable with that discomfort.”
Other documents obtained by the Sierra Club also show public comments from more than 100 wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries nationwide, requesting feedback by posting signs with QR codes that ask visitors about areas and services that need improvement, as well as highlighting any negative information about American history.
Some showed disapproval of the cut of federal funds.
“This station has been drastically underfunded for decades. How the hell are park rangers and other staff supposed to manage millions of visitors if you keep cutting their budgets?” one comment stated about the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
