Key Takeaways
- Philadelphia filed a federal lawsuit after slavery-related exhibits were removed from the President’s House without notice.
- City officials argue the removal violates prior agreements and undermines efforts to present a full historical narrative.
- The Trump administration’s executive order on “truthful history” is cited as a possible motive behind the exhibit’s dismantling.
Philadelphia is taking legal action after slavery-related displays were removed from a historic site tied directly to the nation’s founding, and city leaders are calling it an unacceptable attempt to erase the truth.
On Thursday (Jan. 22), multiple educational panels and artwork tied to the site’s slavery history were taken down at the President’s House in Old City, Philadelphia. Operated by the National Park Service, the outdoor exhibit sits at Sixth and Market streets, where Presidents George Washington and John Adams once lived while Philadelphia served as the nation’s capital.
The removal sparked immediate outrage, especially because the site had long been viewed as a rare place where visitors could confront the contradiction at the heart of early American democracy: freedom being celebrated steps away from enslaved people being held against their will.
CBS News reported that Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, said workers from the park service removed the signage. “The decision to do this appears to be made because the President's House Site memorialized the nine enslaved individuals that were held there against their will by President Washington and his wife, Martha, and this is the only federal historic site that commemorates the history of slavery in America,” Steinke said.
According to the city’s lawsuit, Philadelphia says it has prior agreements with the National Park Service that require disputes to be resolved “in an informal fashion through communication and consultation… or other forms of non-binding alternative dispute resolution that are mutually acceptable to the parties.” The lawsuit argues that the National Park Service and the Interior Department “did not engage with the city and do not have the city’s approval to make unilateral changes to the President’s House exhibit.”
NBC News also reported that the lawsuit says the city was given no notice, calling the removal of the displays “arbitrary and capricious.” It also states, “Defendants have provided no explanation at all for their removal of the historical, educational displays at the President’s House site, let alone a reasoned one.”
The move comes after an executive order signed by President Donald Trump aimed at removing “ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives,” titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” The order specifically mentioned Philadelphia’s Independence National Historic Park and directed the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to ensure memorials “do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times).”
Philadelphia leaders speak out as lawsuit seeks to restore exhibits at the President’s House
As leaders reacted, Steinke stressed that the exhibit was built carefully and intentionally. “It was created after years of scholarship and research to make sure we got the story right,” he said. “Today, in a matter of minutes, it was all ripped down and presumably put away in storage for who knows how long. It's a terrible day for American history; it's a terrible day for Independence National Historical Park. It's a terrible day for our city.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro wrote on X that, “Donald Trump will take any opportunity to rewrite and whitewash our history. But he picked the wrong city — and he sure as hell picked the wrong Commonwealth. We learn from our history in Pennsylvania, even when it's painful.”
According to CBS News, Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson called the move “an effort to whitewash American history,” adding, “History cannot be erased simply because it is uncomfortable. Removing items from the President’s House merely changes the landscape, not the historical record.”
Now, as Philadelphia sues to get the displays put back, city leaders are sending a clear message: history does not get to disappear just because it makes people uncomfortable.