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By Jordan King
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The City of Philadelphia is suing President Donald Trump’s administration after the removal of a slavery exhibit in its Independence National Historical Park.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s office filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Interior Department and the National Park Service (NPS) on Thursday, after staff dismantled and removed slavery-related displays from the President’s House Site.
Newsweek reached out to the White House, the Interior Department, the National Park Service and the City of Philadelphia via email for comment.
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Why It Matters
The dispute centers on how the nation’s founding era is interpreted at a federal historic site where George Washington and John Adams, the nation's first and second presidents, lived, and their slaves labored, underscoring broader national battles over whether public history should confront or downplay slavery’s role in the American story.
The removal followed a Trump executive order that the city’s lawsuit cites, which directed agencies to revise exhibits to focus on “the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.” The executive order was issued last March, but the artwork hadn't been physically removed until Thursday.
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What To Know
On Thursday, NPS workers took down panels titled “Life Under Slavery” and “The Dirty Business of Slavery” at the open-air President’s House memorial at Sixth and Market Streets, where Washington and Adams resided when Philadelphia was the nation’s capital.
The city’s complaint in federal court seeks a preliminary injunction to return the displays, arguing the removal is “arbitrary and capricious” and was done without the consultation required by prior agreements.
A video posted on social media showed crews dismantling large display panels on Thursday afternoon. As of Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. ET, the President's House Site's webpage still described exhibits examining “the paradox between slavery and freedom in the new nation."
The Interior Department said the NPS acted after a review required by Trump’s directive to ensure materials align with “shared national values,” and that the agency was removing or revising interpretive content accordingly.
What People Are Saying
The Interior Department, which includes the National Park Service, told Reuters: "The President has directed federal agencies to review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values. Following completion of the required review, the National Park Service is now taking action to remove or revise interpretive materials in accordance with the Order."
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said in a post on X: “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.”
President Donald Trump said in his March executive order: “Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”
What Happens Next
The city asked a federal judge for a preliminary injunction directing the immediate restoration of the removed panels at the President’s House Site, with further litigation likely to test the scope of the executive order as applied to historical interpretation at federal sites.
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