The Arlington National Cemetery website has removed links to information on prominent Black, Hispanic and female service members as part of President Trump’s ongoing efforts to eliminate references to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Among the internal links that no longer appear on the website are those directing users to pages related to dozens of “Notable Graves” of minority service members buried in the cemetery, as well as educational materials on modules including the Civil War and African American history.
Links to three lists of Black, Hispanic and female service members buried at Arlington Cemetery no longer appear on the website, according to the military news site Task & Purpose.
Officials for the cemetery, the final resting place of approximately 400,000 veterans and their dependents, have confirmed that some pages have been “unpublished” to comply with an executive order signed by Trump on his first day in office, designed to end “radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing.”
It’s unclear exactly when the scrubbing began, though Civil War historian Kevin M. Levin first reported on the “erasure of history” and deletion of certain lesson plans from the cemetery’s website last week.
On Friday, in an update to his Substack “Civil War Memory,” Levin wrote that the situation was “so much worse than [he] had initially thought.”
According to a screenshot provided by Task & Purpose, six themes of academic lesson plans can no longer be accessed from the website’s “Education Program” section — including those on African American history, the Civil War and women’s history.
A cemetery spokesperson confirmed those pages have been “unpublished,” but said they would be back on the site after they were “reviewed and updated.” They did not provide a timeframe.
“We are proud of our educational content and programming and working diligently to return removed content to ensure alignment with Department of Defense instruction 5400.17 and Executive Orders issued by the president,” an ANC spokesperson told The Washington Post.
“We remain committed to sharing the stories of military service and sacrifice to the nation with transparency and professionalism, while continuing to engage with our community in a manner that reflects our core values,” the spokesperson said.