Trump administration replaces slavery exhibit at Washington's Philadelphia home

Critics call new panels a ‘first step to fascism’

• The National Park Service replaced panels at the President’s House in Philadelphia that told the story of nine people enslaved by George Washington with new language, drawing criticism from historians and activists.
• The replacement follows a federal court ruling allowing the Trump administration to install new panels after a six-month legal fight over the exhibit’s removal.
• Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker called the overnight installation “shameful” and said it “violates community trust.”
• The Department of Interior said the new panels “acknowledge the evils of slavery” and provide historical context.
• Critics said they will continue volunteer efforts to educate visitors about the original exhibit’s content.

The National Park Service early Wednesday replaced an exhibit about nine people enslaved by George Washington at the President’s House in Philadelphia with new panels that critics said whitewash the nation’s history of slavery. The installation on Independence Mall ends a six-month legal battle between the city and the Trump administration over how federal historic sites present the founding era.

The new panels go beyond the original 2010 display, which focused on the lives of the nine enslaved individuals who served George and Martha Washington during the 1790s when Philadelphia was the U.S. capital. A Department of Interior spokesperson said the new version “acknowledge the evils of slavery, including its injustices and hypocrisies” and remind visitors of the enslaved people’s humanity, while also recalling “the price our nation paid ‘to finish the work that the Founders had begun and end slavery in the United States once and for all.’”

One panel includes a summary of Washington’s position on slavery, highlighting his expressed unease toward the institution. Another states that enslaved people at the President’s House “experienced a greater modicum of autonomy than elsewhere in the South such as to explore the city and sometimes even attend the theater, with Washington buying the tickets.”

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said the overnight installation was conducted “under the cover of darkness” and showed the federal government “understands this action is shameful, that it violates community trust.”

The installation follows a legal sequence that began in January, when the National Park Service removed the original panels to comply with Trump’s March 2025 executive order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” Philadelphia sued, and in February U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe ordered the original panels reinstated. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals later ruled that the government was not required to maintain the original exhibit, and on July 3 a three-judge panel declared that the Trump administration could install new panels.

Michael Coard, a Philadelphia attorney and founder of the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, compared the administration’s actions to the authoritarianism in George Orwell’s “1984.” “People should really be afraid. This is always the first step to fascism,” Coard said. He warned that the logic could extend to other symbols: “What could theoretically happen if the president doesn’t like the Liberty Bell? So what do you do – you move the Liberty Bell?”

Coard said the city still has legal options, including seeking a rehearing before the full Third Circuit or appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. “Simply because he came in like a thief in the night and put up new panels, doesn’t mean that a court can’t remove those mythological panels,” he said.

Matt Hall, a Temple University professor, founded the grassroots group Old City Remembers in February to share the original panels’ text with visitors. He said more than 100 volunteers have stood at the site with informational packets. “Now is not the time to roll over and let them get away with rewriting the history in the way that they think it should be,” Hall said. “Our volunteer community is going to continue to come out and give visitors to the site the opportunity to learn what the original text was.”

Alyssa Bigbee, an artist and activist who began volunteering with Avenging the Ancestors earlier this year, said she hopes her activism inspires her 10-year-old son. “I’m disgusted that the administration is choosing to hide history, but the truth is, you can’t erase it,” Bigbee said. “History will remember that we had cowards in office that chose to erase history and brave people who continue to fight against them.”

The Interior Department spokesperson said that through Trump’s policies, “we have encouraged Americans to visit our cultural and historic sites and engage in meaningful conversations about the moments that have shaped our country.”