On January 22, 2026, National Park Service workers dismantled the exhibits about slavery at the President's House Site in Independence National Historical Park, a memorial to the nine people George Washington enslaved there. The exhibit opened in 2010 after years of advocacy by the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, and the panels taken down included “Life Under Slavery” and “The Dirty Business of Slavery.”
The Interior Department said it was carrying out Trump's March 27, 2025 Executive Order 14253, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which singled out Independence National Historical Park and called on the Interior secretary to remove content that would “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said, “President Trump is ensuring that we are honoring the fullness of the American story instead of distorting it in the name of left-wing ideology.”
Philadelphia sued the same day. The city's lawsuit says it got no notice and that “Defendants have provided no explanation at all for their removal of the historical, educational displays at the President's House site, let alone a reasoned one.” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Trump “will take any opportunity to rewrite and whitewash our history.”
A district court judge ordered the exhibit restored, but the administration appealed, which paused the restoration. On June 18, 2026, a Third Circuit panel sided with the government, ruling that the city does not have rights to control property it does not own. Overnight on July 14 into July 15, the Park Service installed its own panels. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that they mention slavery and the people Washington enslaved but mostly offer a broad timeline of U.S. history, and that experts say they soften Washington's role as an enslaver. The Third Circuit later denied the city's request for a rehearing; one count, alleging the Park Service breached its agreements with the city, remains pending.
Correction (October 14, 2026): We removed a quote attributing to the lawsuit the words “acted without statutory authority,” which we could not find in coverage of the filing, and a claim that exactly 13 items across six exhibits were flagged (The Inquirer reported “more than a dozen”). We also removed the summary's claim that the administration gave no explanation, since the Interior Department cited the executive order; the lawsuit's argument that no reasoned explanation was given is now attributed to the city. Two unsourced characterizations in the key facts were removed, and the court rulings and replacement panels that followed were added.