Philadelphia sues Trump administration over removal of slavery exhibit from public park

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Angry critics accused President Donald Trump of “whitewashing history” Friday after the National Park Service removed an exhibit about slavery at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia in response to his executive order to “restore truth and reason to American history” on display in the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks.

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All that remains are the holes and empty shadows on the brick walls where the explanatory plaques were displayed on the site of the President’s House, where George and Martha Washington lived with the people they owned as property during the years when Philadelphia was the nation’s capital. One woman cried silently because of their absence. Someone left a bouquet of flowers. A handwritten sign says, “Slavery was real.”

Crews on Thursday removed the exhibit that included the names and other biographical details of the nine people the Washington family enslaved at the presidential mansion. Their names remain engraved on a cement wall at the entrance.

In an effort to stop the display’s permanent removal, the city of Philadelphia on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting National Park Service director Jessica Burron.

An Interior Department statement said the committees were canceled because Trump’s order requires federal agencies to review explanatory materials “to ensure accuracy, truthfulness, and alignment with shared national values.” She called the city’s lawsuit frivolous and intended to “insult our courageous Founding Fathers who laid out the magnificent road map to the greatest country in the world.”

The administration did not answer questions about what would replace the removed exhibits.

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The city of Philadelphia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Among those enslaved in the palace was Oni Judge, who famously escaped and remained free despite Washington’s attempts to return her to slavery. Slavery is a central element of the site’s story, the lawsuit filed in Philadelphia says, adding that the terms of the city administration’s partnership with the federal government give the city an equal voice in any design changes.

Critics have condemned the removals as confirmation that the Trump administration is seeking to erase unpleasant aspects of American history.

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

Taking pride in America’s independence shouldn’t mean hiding its mistakes, said Ed Sterley, senior regional director for the Mid-Atlantic region for the National Parks Conservation Association, which works to protect national parks. These historic sites should help Americans deal with difficult truths and contradictions in how history is framed, he said, and removing the exhibit is an insult to the memory of the enslaved people who lived there.

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

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“It shows that the United States is still unwilling to reckon with the horrors of its past, preferring instead to sanitize its history and try to present a convenient lie,” said Timothy Houellebecq, director of the Center against Racism at Temple University.

The order, signed by Trump last March, accused the Biden administration of promoting a “corrosive ideology” at historic sites in the country.

“At Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — where our nation has declared that all men are created equal — the previous administration sponsored training by an organization calling for the dismantling of ‘Western institutions’ and ‘interrogation of institutional racism’ and pressed National Historical Park rangers that their racial identity should dictate how they convey history to visiting Americans because America is allegedly racist.”

Durani Pineda contributed to this story from Los Angeles.