National Parks Service Removes Slavery Exhibit in Philadelphia

The exhibit detailed names and information about enslaved people owned by George and Martha Washington and other stories of slavery.

People look at an informational panel at the President’s House site in Philadelphia on Aug. 19, 2025. Matt Rourke/AP Photo

The National Parks Service removed an exhibit on slavery installed at Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park on Thursday.

Park staff was shown on video shared on social media removing explanatory panels of the 15-year-old “Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation” exhibit from walls displayed at the President’s House site, where Presidents George Washington and John Adams lived and conducted their executive branch business.

Washington and First Lady Martha Washington lived at the President’s House with slaves as the first president guided the formation of the young nation. The names of nine enslaved members of Washington’s household were listed on the exhibit along with other information about slavery. Their names remain engraved on a cement wall at the park.

In response to a request for comment, the Interior Department said it was following President Donald Trump’s executive order, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” signed in March 2025.

“All federal agencies are to review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Following completion of the required review, the National Park Service is now taking appropriate action in accordance with the order.”

The city of Philadelphia sued the Department of the Interior on Thursday, seeking to stop the display’s permanent removal.

The Interior Department called the lawsuit frivolous.

“We encourage the City of Philadelphia to focus on getting their jobless rates down and ending their reckless cashless bail policy instead of filing frivolous lawsuits in the hopes of demeaning our brave Founding Fathers who set the brilliant road map for the greatest country in the world—the United States of America,” the Interior Department spokesperson said.

The exhibit was developed in 2010 by African American community advocates and the city of Philadelphia and addresses the topic of slavery in the early history of the United States.

The park, which surrounds Independence Hall on 3rd Street in Philadelphia, is closed for preservation projects until Jan. 28.

The National Parks Conservation Association, a leading independent parks advocacy organization with nearly 2 million members, condemned the exhibition’s removal.

An informational panel is seen at President’s House Site in Philadelphia on Aug. 19, 2025. Matt Rourke/AP Photo

“Forcing the Parks Service to dismantle the President’s House exhibit is an insult to the memory of the enslaved people who lived there and to their descendants,” said Ed Stierli, senior mid-Atlantic regional director for the association, in a statement.

“It reverses years of collaborative work by the National Park Service. Our history is the beating heart of our national parks, and Americans will not stand for it being erased.”

The interior work to Independence Hall is preparing the structure for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence this year. The improvement project has been underway since March 2025, in conjunction with work at Congress Hall and Old City Hall.

Other elements of the project include adding accessible ramps; repairing and restoring wood pieces, masonry, plaster, and metal finishes; and applying historically accurate paint to the ceilings, walls, and trim, according to the park.