Three federal judges could decide the future of the slavery exhibits at the President\u2019s House, as Philadelphia gears up to celebrate the 250th birthday of the nation\u2019s founding.<\/p>\n
The panel, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit<\/a>, heard arguments Tuesday afternoon from attorneys representing the city and the Trump administration over whether to uphold a lower court order<\/a> that required the National Park Service to restore the panels.<\/p>\n NPS employees took down the exhibit in late January, in response to a March 2025 executive order in which President Donald Trump directed the agency to remove \u201cdescriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times)” from the park system.<\/p>\n Mayor Cherelle Parker\u2019s team quickly sued, and U.S. District Court Judge Cynthia M. Rufe agreed with the city\u2019s attorneys, comparing the Trump administration\u2019s actions to the Ministry of Truth in \u201c1984,\u201d George Orwell\u2019s dystopian novel.<\/a><\/p>\n Rufe issued a preliminary injunction that compelled the NPS to restore the President\u2019s House within days. Crews began replacing the panels, but work halted when the Third Circuit paused sections of the order. The site has since been in a state of partial installation \u2014 and is likely to remain so until the judges make a decision.<\/p>\n The three judges \u2014 Thomas M. Hardiman, L. Felipe Restrepo and Peter J. Phipps \u2014 did not provide any indication of when they may rule. Supporters of the exhibit say there should be some urgency, with an influx of visitors anticipated for the Semiquicentennial.<\/p>\n Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory in den Berken told the judges that restoration, or replacement, of the exhibit should take about three weeks, at a cost of $20,000.<\/p>\n The panels in question examine the paradox of slavery and freedom during the country\u2019s founding period, with a particular emphasis on the stories of the nine people George Washington kept in bondage at the property.<\/p>\n Brick walls at 6th and Market streets, near the entrance to Liberty Bell Center, outline the footprint of the long-demolished house, which served as the executive mansion from 1790 to 1800.<\/p>\n In a packed courtroom steps away from the installation, the judges seemed engaged and peppered both sets of lawyers with questions and comments.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they were open and trying to really understand the issues,\u201d said attorney Cara McClellan, who is representing the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition<\/a> (ATAC) and the Black Journey<\/a>, two groups intervening in the matter on the side of the city. \u201cIt\u2019s a complicated case.\u201d<\/p>\n During the approximately 90-minute oral argument session, participants discussed the city\u2019s rights, or lack thereof, pertaining to the President\u2019s House and whether the NPS was simply curating the exhibit or taking a more substantial action.<\/p>\n In den Berken asserted that allowing the injunction to stand would amount to giving City Hall veto power over all curatorial decisions at Independence National Historical Park (INHP), authority that he characterized as unprecedented.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just curation,\u201d McClellan told the court. \u201cIt was elimination.\u201d<\/p>\n