PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration has the right to replace a slavery exhibit located at George Washington’s historic residence in Philadelphia, overturning an earlier court order that had required the National Park Service to put the display back in place.
The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its unanimous decision, finding that a lower court judge had incorrectly interpreted contract claims made by the city of Philadelphia involving Independence National Historical Park. The panel noted that Philadelphia having the legal standing to bring a lawsuit did not automatically mean its arguments were valid. The appeals court also offered praise for the planned replacement installation, describing it as being “full of historical context” — a characterization that stands in contrast to concerns raised by historians and city officials who say the new content appears to downplay or whitewash the history of slavery.
The ruling arrives approximately one week after a federal judge in Massachusetts ordered the Trump administration to restore historical sites that had been altered under a presidential executive order. That order directed the nation’s museums, parks, and landmarks to remove elements that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.” The federal government has requested a pause on the Massachusetts ruling while it pursues an appeal.
It remained unclear Thursday how the Massachusetts decision might affect the situation at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia. Work to restore roughly half of the large outdoor exhibit panels had been completed before coming to a halt in February.
Attorneys representing Philadelphia, as well as spokespeople for the Department of Interior and the National Park Service, had not responded to requests for comment as of early Thursday.
Philadelphia filed its lawsuit in January after the National Park Service removed the explanatory panels from the President’s House Site. That location is where George and Martha Washington lived alongside nine enslaved people during the 1790s, a period when Philadelphia briefly served as the nation’s capital. The removal was carried out in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order.
The city had collaborated with the federal government, historians, and private partners in the early 2000s to develop the exhibit as part of a long-running cooperation agreement governing the downtown historical park. Philadelphia contributed $1.5 million toward the exhibit’s creation.
City officials argued that the federal government was obligated to consult with Philadelphia before making any changes to the President’s House Site. Attorneys for the Justice Department countered that the administration holds sole authority over what stories are told at National Park Service properties.
In Thursday’s ruling, the appeals panel determined that the maintenance section of the agreement between the city and the federal government could not be read as a guarantee that the exhibit would stay unchanged indefinitely.
“The duty to ‘maintain’ 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’s wishes,” the court’s opinion stated.
