{"id":118287,"date":"2026-02-19T18:39:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/118287\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:39:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:39:18","slug":"slavery-exhibit-removed-by-trump-returning-toin-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/118287\/","title":{"rendered":"Slavery exhibit removed by Trump returning toin Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MARYCLAIRE DALE<\/p>\n

PHILADELPHIA (AP) \u2014 Workers on Thursday began restoring an exhibit on the lives of the nine people once enslaved at the former President\u2019s House in Philadelphia amid a contentious legal fight between the city and the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Mayor Cherelle Parker visited the site Thursday morning and thanked the workers for their efforts, spokesperson Joe Grace said.<\/p>\n

A federal judge had set a\u00a0Friday deadline<\/a>\u00a0for the Interior Department to restore the exhibit on the people enslaved by George Washington at the site on Independence Mall. The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office declined to comment on the restoration work, a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

The administration argues that it alone can decide what stories are told at\u00a0National Park Service<\/a>\u00a0properties. Park service workers last month abruptly\u00a0removed exhibits<\/a>\u00a0from the Philadelphia site, prompting the city and other supporters of the exhibit to sue.<\/p>\n

\"National<\/p>\n

National Parks Service workers talk as panels that were part of an exhibit on slavery at the President\u2019s House Site in Philadelphia are put back Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Joe Lamberti)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A person takes a photo as panels that were part of an exhibit on slavery at the President\u2019s House Site in Philadelphia are put back Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Joe Lamberti)\n<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe inspects the location of the now removed explanatory panels that were part of an exhibit on slavery at President\u2019s House Site in Philadelphia, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Matt Rourke)\n<\/p>\n

\"National<\/p>\n

National Parks Service workers gather as panels that were part of an exhibit on slavery at the President\u2019s House Site in Philadelphia are put back Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Joe Lamberti)\n<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People gather as panels that were part of an exhibit on slavery at the President\u2019s House Site in Philadelphia are put back Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Joe Lamberti)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

National Parks Service workers talk as panels that were part of an exhibit on slavery at the President\u2019s House Site in Philadelphia are put back Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Joe Lamberti)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Senior U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe on Monday granted an injunction ordering that the materials be restored while the lawsuit proceeds and barring Trump officials from creating new interpretations of the site\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

In her 40-page opinion, Rufe compared President Donald Trump\u2019s administration to the totalitarian regime in the dystopian novel \u201c1984,\u201d which revised historical records to align with its narrative. She said the federal government does not have the power \u201cto dissemble and disassemble historical truths.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the President\u2019s House is left dismembered throughout this dispute, so too is the history it recounts,\u201d Rufe, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorse yet, the potential of having the exhibits replaced by an alternative script \u2014 a plausible assumption at this time \u2014 would be an even more permanent rejection of the site\u2019s historical integrity, and irreparable,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By MARYCLAIRE DALE PHILADELPHIA (AP) \u2014 Workers on Thursday began restoring an exhibit on the lives of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70,56140,55020,56139],"class_list":["post-118287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-philadelphia-slavery-exhibit","tag-slavery-exhibit","tag-trump-removing-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}