Philadelphia’s neighboring counties are showing their support for the city’s lawsuit against the Trump administration after slavery exhibits were removed from the President’s House on Independence Mall last month.
Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties filed a joint amicus brief that supports Philadelphia’s effort in court to restore the exhibits. The exhibits, which were installed in the early 2000s, were taken down without notice in January by National Park Service staff after President Trump issued an executive order aimed at “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”Â
An amicus brief is filed by an individual or party that is not directly involved in a legal case. Latin for “friend of the court,” amicus briefs can provide additional information or arguments to the court before a judge makes a ruling.
The exhibits, which detailed the lives of nine people enslaved at the home while President George Washington lived there, are currently being held by the National Park Service in storage near the National Constitution Center after a judge ordered the Trump administration to safely store all items as the city’s lawsuit continues.
Statements released by officials in each of the four counties accuse the Trump administration of trying to erase, rewrite and whitewash American history by removing the exhibits.
“Chester County was an important part of the Underground Railroad, home to the nation’s first Historically Black College and University (HBCU), and the birthplace of civil rights leaders,” Josh Maxwell, chair of the Chester County Board of Commissioners, said. “In filing an amicus brief, we continue our commitment to acknowledging the abhorrent legacy of slavery and working to remedy it.”
The four counties are being represented pro bono by the law firm Ballard Spahr LLP.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also filed an amicus brief in support of the city in January.
“Those displays aren’t just signs — they represent our shared history, and if we want to move forward as a nation, we have to be willing to tell the full story of where we came from,” Shapiro said in a statement.
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