Federal Judge Orders the Restoration of Exhibits on Slavery to the President’s House in Philadelphia

The following story is republished from the Penn Capital-Star under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. and was written by Reporter Ian Karabal 

In a scathing opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Cynthia Rufe, a George W. Bush appointee, ordered the federal government to restore exhibits on slavery that had been removed from the President’s House in Philadelphia last month.

While the order provides no deadline for the government to reinstall the exhibitions, it tasks the Trump Administration with restoring the President’s House site to its condition before they were removed and making no further changes without agreement from the City of Philadelphia as litigation continues.

Moreover, it requires the federal government ensure the site remains unaltered, accessible, clean, and its exhibits unobstructed.

Her ruling, issued on President’s Day, began with an epigraph from George Orwell’s novel 1984, describing the erasure of history by a fictional totalitarian government.

Rufe then writes: “As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto ‘Ignorance is Strength,’ this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims—to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts. It does not.”

On Jan. 22, National Park Service employees removed a series of exhibitions memorializing the slaves who were kept by George Washington at the first Presidential Residence during his terms in Philadelphia. They underscored the paradox of Washington as a crucial figure in the establishment of an American democracy founded on the principles of individual liberty, and his personal role as a slaver. During his presidency, Washington exploited loopholes in Pennsylvania law to keep his slaves from being emancipated under the nation’s first gradual abolition law.

Following the removal, the City of Philadelphia sued The U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, and their respective heads, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron.

The city argued that the removal of the exhibitions without its approval violated the terms of a 2006 agreement between the city and the federal government, which made it a partner in maintaining the President’s House.

Rufe’s opinion also noted that the city had contributed roughly $3.5 million over the last several decades to the establishment and maintenance of the President’s House site. Moreover, she noted that city employees were deeply involved in aiding improvements to the President’s House site since it opened in 2010.

The federal government says its actions were in compliance with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump calling on the secretary of the Interior to ensure exhibitions under his control do not “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times), and instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Democratic state Senate Caucus, four southeastern Pennsylvania collar counties, and advocacy groups – including Avenging the Ancestors and The Black Journey – all joined the city’s lawsuit by filing amicus briefs.

At a hearing on Jan. 30, the judge called the federal government’s argument that it can choose how to tell its own history “horrifying to listen to.”

Shortly after, Rufe examined the exhibitions, which were being stored in a secure space, and said they were “desecrated,” but not damaged.

On Feb. 6, the city filed a request for preliminary injunction, asking the judge to order the restoration of the removed exhibitions, and the preservation of the President’s House as it was before they were taken down.

Litigation remains ongoing, and the federal government may appeal Rufe’s order.