Trump administration replaces slavery exhibit at Washington's Philadelphia home

The National Park Service installed new interpretive panels at President George Washington's former residence in Philadelphia, replacing a 2010 exhibit that detailed the lives of nine enslaved people who lived in the house in the 1790s. The revised panels, approved by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, retain information about the enslaved individuals, the abolitionist movement, constitutional treatment of slavery, and the 20th-century civil-rights era, but omit certain elements such as a map of slave-trade routes and a headline that previously read “The Dirty Business of Slavery.”

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said the panels were removed “overnight, under the cover of darkness,” characterizing the action as “shameful” and a breach of community trust. The city, which sued the federal government over the changes, plans to seek a rehearing on the appeals-court decision. Attorneys for the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition, which joined the lawsuit, warned that altering historical narratives could set a precedent for future removals of controversial symbols.

The Interior Department defended the new panels, stating they are “full of historical context” and acknowledge “the evils of slavery, including its injustices and hypocrisies,” while highlighting the humanity of the enslaved individuals. The changes follow an executive order issued in 2025 directing federally owned historic sites to avoid content that “disparages Americans past or living” and to emphasize “the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.”