18 Jan 2020 10:12 am
The National Archives is charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records.National Archives exhibit blurs images critical of President Trump
The large color photograph that greets visitors to a National Archives exhibit celebrating the centennial of women’s suffrage shows a massive crowd filling Pennsylvania Avenue NW for the Women’s March on Jan. 21, 2017, the day after President Trump’s inauguration.
The 49-by-69-inch photograph is a powerful display.
Viewed from one perspective, it shows the 2017 march.
Viewed from another angle, it shifts to show a 1913 black-and-white image of a women’s suffrage march also on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The display links momentous demonstrations for women’s rights more than a century apart on the same stretch of pavement.
But a closer look reveals a different story.
The Archives acknowledged in a statement this week that it made multiple alterations to the photo of the 2017 Women’s March showcased at the museum, blurring signs held by marchers that were critical of Trump.
Words on signs that referenced women’s anatomy were also blurred.
The women's march on January 21, 2017 was in protest of Trump getting elected.
By blurring out those images, they have altered the historical record.
