Philadelphia sues over removal of slavery exhibit at Independence National Historical Park

Outraged critics accused President Donald Trump of “whitewashing history” after the National Park Service removed an exhibit on slavery at Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park. The removal came in response to Trump’s executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history” that impacts displays at the nation’s museums, parks, and landmarks.

At the President’s House Site, where George and Martha Washington lived with enslaved people during Philadelphia’s tenure as the nation’s capital, only empty bolt holes and shadows remain on the brick walls where explanatory panels once stood. The display included biographical details about nine people enslaved by the Washingtons at the presidential mansion. While their names remain engraved on a cement wall at the entrance, the interpretive materials are gone.

Visitors expressed their dismay at the site, with one woman crying silently at the absence of the panels. Someone left flowers, while a hand-lettered sign simply stated: “Slavery was real.”

The City of Philadelphia quickly filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron in an attempt to prevent the permanent removal of the display. According to the lawsuit, slavery is central to the site’s historical significance, and the terms of Philadelphia’s management partnership with the federal government grants the city equal say over design changes.

An Interior Department statement defended the removal, saying Trump’s order requires federal agencies to review interpretive materials to “ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values.” The department dismissed Philadelphia’s lawsuit as frivolous and aimed at “demeaning our brave Founding Fathers who set the brilliant road map for the greatest country in the world.” Officials did not specify what might replace the removed exhibits.

Among the people enslaved at the mansion was Oney Judge, whose story has particular historical significance. Judge successfully escaped enslavement and remained free despite Washington’s attempts to recapture her.

The removal has sparked widespread condemnation from historians, politicians, and civil rights advocates who see it as part of a broader attempt to sanitize American history.

“Their shameful desecration of this exhibit raises broader, disturbing questions about this administration’s continued abuse of power and commitment to whitewashing history,” said Rep. Dwight Evans, a Pennsylvania Democrat.

Ed Stierli, senior mid-Atlantic regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association, emphasized that taking pride in American independence shouldn’t mean hiding its mistakes. Historic sites, he argued, should help Americans confront difficult truths about the nation’s past.

“It reverses years of collaborative work by the National Park Service, City of Philadelphia, and community members, and sets a dangerous precedent of prioritizing nostalgia over the truth,” Stierli said.

Timothy Welbeck, director of the Center for Anti-Racism at Temple University, offered a sharp critique: “It shows that the United States is still unwilling to reckon with the horrors of its past and would rather prefer to sanitize the history that it has and try to present a convenient lie.”

The executive order, signed by Trump last March, claimed the Biden administration had advanced a “corrosive ideology” at the nation’s historic sites. The order specifically mentioned Independence National Historical Park, alleging the previous administration had “sponsored training by an organization that advocates dismantling ‘Western foundations’ and ‘interrogating institutional racism.'”

The controversy highlights the ongoing tension in American society over how to present historical narratives, particularly those involving slavery and racial injustice. As the presidential election approaches, the interpretation of American history has become increasingly politicized, with battles over monuments, school curricula, and now museum displays reflecting deeper ideological divisions about national identity.

The President’s House Site has been an important location for telling a more complete story of early American history, acknowledging both the founding ideals of liberty and the contradictions embodied by the founding fathers who owned slaves while proclaiming that “all men are created equal.”

As the legal battle unfolds, the empty walls at this historical site stand as a physical manifestation of the broader cultural and political struggle over American memory and identity.