National Archives Apologizes for Censoring Anti-Trump Messages from Women’s March Photo

This photo of the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C. was altered by the National Archives to block out anti-Trump messages and references to women’s body parts. Photo credit: Mario Tama, Getty Images.

The National Archives has apologized following the discovery that a photo of the 2017 Women’s March on display at the Archives was censored to blur out anti-Donald Trump messaging.

The Washington Post reported that the Archives admitted it censored a photo of the Women’s March to blur out signs criticizing Trump and signs referencing women’s anatomy.

The National Archives delivered a mea culpa Saturday, saying “we made a mistake” by censoring the image.

“We apologize, and will immediately start a thorough review of our exhibit policies and procedures so that this does not happen again,” the National Archives said.

We made a mistake.

As the National Archives of the United States, we are and have always been completely committed to preserving our archival holdings, without alteration. pic.twitter.com/VTWOS4R7GY

— US National Archives (@USNatArchives) January 18, 2020

In an elevator lobby promotional display for our current exhibit on the 19th Amendment, we obscured some words on protest signs in a photo of the 2017 Women’s March.

— US National Archives (@USNatArchives) January 18, 2020

This photo is not an archival record held by the @usnatarchives, but one we licensed to use as a promotional graphic. Nonetheless, we were wrong to alter the image.

— US National Archives (@USNatArchives) January 18, 2020

We have removed the current display and will replace it as soon as possible with one that uses the unaltered image.

We apologize, and will immediately start a thorough review of our exhibit policies and procedures so that this does not happen again.

— US National Archives (@USNatArchives) January 18, 2020

“As a non-partisan, non-political federal agency, we blurred references to the President’s name on some posters, so as not to engage in current political controversy,” an Archives spokesperson told The Washington Post previously.

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