Philadelphia’s slavery exhibit is being restored at the President’s House

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Workers have begun restoring the slavery exhibit at the President’s House Site on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, a day after a judge set a Friday deadline for the Trump administration to do so.

The administration on Wednesday night asked U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe for a stay on the injunction while its appeal is pending in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Rufe on Monday ordered that the panels be restored while a lawsuit over the removal proceeds. Rufe, a President George W. Bush appointee, compared the administration’s rationale for removing the exhibit to the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s “1984” — a dystopian novel about authoritarianism.

The panels, removed in January by the National Park Service, depict the lives of nine people enslaved by George Washington while he lived in Philadelphia as president.

The city of Philadelphia promptly sued the Interior Department and the Park Service over the removal.

Bill Rooney, a Chestnut Hill resident, was passing by when he saw the restoration underway.

“It feels like history being made again,” he said. “To have that history taken down is a step back. It wasn’t right.”

Celeste Morello, who was walking her dog near the site, said she had some concerns about the quality of the historical content on the panels even before they were taken down. Morello, a local historian who has worked on over 40 of the Pennsylvania Historical Markers around the city, said the subject of slavery should be written for an adult audience rather than at a grade-school level.

“Slavery in itself, it is appropriate to put here, but the subject of slavery is very abstract,” she said. “You don’t expect children to understand it. So, why have all the content on these panels put on a grade-school level? This is adult content, it’s for adults to understand.”

For Jasmine Gutierrez, however, visiting from Lakeland, Florida, the activity at the site was an opportunity to educate her two children, ages 8 and 11. “Why would they take it?” she recalled them asking.

Gutierrez described the exhibit removal as “actively trying to erase history.” She said she wants her kids to know that they have a voice. “We can’t just sit back and do nothing.”

Michelle Flamer, co-founder and board chair of the historical organization 1838 Black Metropolis, said she was thrilled to see the exhibit restored after being a part of its creation more than 20 years ago. “We have to have the entirety of truth-telling, especially as we come together to celebrate America 250,” she said.

Amid occasional applause from passersby, as National Parks workers restored the panels, an unnamed employee said, “It’s our honor.”

Mayor Cherelle Parker, speaking at a Black history event at The Union League celebrating The Philadelphia Tribune, reminded the audience that “today, we celebrate the return of our history to the President’s House exhibit.”

From Philly to Stonewall: Witnessing history, witnessing ‘democratic behavior’

The legal back-and-forth over the President’s House followed President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which aimed to reshape how history is presented at U.S. parks, museums and landmarks.

Christina Raymond, who studies government at Johns Hopkins University at the Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., was visiting Philadelphia on Thursday alongside her 9-year-old daughter, who is studying the American Revolution in school.

Considering the present moment in American history, Raymond said, “I think, unfortunately, what we are right now is an authoritarian system masquerading as a responsive democracy.”

Choking up, Raymond said, “We are here today to witness. This is democratic behavior.”

Earlier this week, LGBTQ+ rights advocates and historic preservationists similarly sued the Park Service for removing a Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City.

Raymond said the collective pushback, from Stonewall to Philadelphia, gives her hope.

“This is the American people fighting back and saying, ‘We will not accept this,’” she said, “‘will not allow history to be rewritten.’”

WHYY News’ Eric Nixon contributed reporting.