{"id":222632,"date":"2026-06-18T21:37:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/222632\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T21:37:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:37:07","slug":"trump-administration-can-replace-washington-slavery-exhibit-in-philadelphia-appeals-court-says-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/222632\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration can replace Washington slavery exhibit in Philadelphia, appeals court says"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MICHAEL CASEY and CLAUDIA LAUER<\/p>\n

PHILADELPHIA (AP) \u2014 The Trump administration can replace a slavery exhibit at George Washington\u2019s home in Philadelphia, a federal appeals court panel said Thursday, striking down a lower court\u2019s injunction<\/a> that required the National Park Service to reinstall the interpretive panels.<\/p>\n

The unanimous ruling by the three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court judge wrongly interpreted Philadelphia\u2019s contract claims involving Independence National Historical Park, saying the city merely having standing to sue did not mean its arguments had merit. The panel also praised the plans for the replacement installation, writing that they were, \u201cfull of historical context,\u201d despite objections from historians and city officials that the content appears whitewashed.<\/p>\n

The ruling comes a week after a Massachusetts federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore sites changed under an executive order<\/a> calling for the nation\u2019s museums, parks and landmarks to not display elements that \u201cinappropriately disparage Americans past or living.\u201d The federal government has asked for a stay on that ruling while it appeals.<\/p>\n

It was unclear how the Massachusetts ruling would affect the restoration or replacement of the panels at the President\u2019s House Site. About half the large panels at the outdoor exhibit had been restored before a February pause in the work.<\/p>\n

Phone and email messages left for attorneys representing the city were not returned early Thursday. Messages to spokespeople for the Department of Interior and the National Park Service also were not returned.<\/p>\n

Dawn Chavous, a volunteer for Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, one of the advocacy groups that helped develop the site in the 2000s, said they are disappointed with the decision but are speaking to their attorneys and considering options.<\/p>\n

\"FILEFILE \u2013 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, File)<\/p>\n

\u201cFor decades, ATAC has worked to ensure that the stories of the enslaved African descendants who lived and labored at the President\u2019s House are not erased, overlooked, or misrepresented,\u201d the group said in an emailed statement. \u201cThat commitment remains unwavering. We believe that historical truth matters, and we will continue to advocate for the protection, preservation, and accurate interpretation of this important chapter of American history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city of Philadelphia sued in January<\/a> after the National Park Service, in response to President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order, removed the explanatory panels from the President\u2019s House Site, where George and Martha Washington lived with nine of their slaves in the 1790s, when Philadelphia was briefly the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

\"FILEFILE \u2013 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, File)<\/p>\n

The city had worked in tandem with the federal government, historians and private partners to create the exhibit in the early 2000s \u2014 as part of a longstanding cooperation agreement over the downtown historical park \u2014 and contributed $1.5 million toward its creation.<\/p>\n

The city argued that federal government must consult with the city before making changes to the President\u2019s House Site. Justice Department lawyers argued the administration alone can decide what stories are told at National Park Service properties.<\/p>\n

In its ruling Thursday, the appeals panel said the maintenance portion of the contract between the city and the federal government could not be interpreted to mean the site would remain as it was when it was completed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe duty to \u2018maintain\u2019 is better understood as a general management obligation that accompanies ownership, not a promise that the exhibits will forever remain in place regardless of the owner\u2019s wishes,\u201d the opinion said.<\/p>\n

Casey contributed from Boston.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By MICHAEL CASEY and CLAUDIA LAUER PHILADELPHIA (AP) \u2014 The Trump administration can replace a slavery exhibit at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96829,97,69,71,70,54979],"class_list":["post-222632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-historical-signs","tag-national-park-service","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-washington-slavery-exhibit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222632","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=222632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}