Trump admin replaces slavery memorial at President's House in Philadelphia

Advocates argue that the new panels downplay the brutality of slavery.

The National Park Service has installed new panels at the slavery memorial at the President’s House exhibit in Philadelphia in a move that has drawn criticism from advocates of the exhibit.

The site is where President George Washington lived for the majority of his presidency -- from 1790 to 1797 -- and where he enslaved nine men and women.

"These new panels are full of historical context and highlight the momentous events that took place in the President’s House and the other sites at Independence National Historical Park," a spokesperson for the Interior Department told ABC News in a statement on Wednesday, confirming the replacement of the exhibit. "They acknowledge the evils of slavery, including its injustices and hypocrisies, and, by telling the stories of the nine slaves that Washington kept in the President’s House, remind us of their essential humanity."

The Interior Department, which oversees NPS, told ABC News previously that the old panels "disparaged" Washington. But according to Avenging the Ancestors Coalition (ATAC), a group founded in 2020 by Philadelphia attorney Michael Coard that launched the fight for a slavery memorial at the site, the language in the new panels minimizes the brutality of slavery and Washington's role in it.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Coard said that the fight is not over.

“You got to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and that's not what they're doing here,” Coard said.

"The mythological panels are up," Coard said, adding that advocates and supporters had been monitoring the site daily to record any changes.

The replacement of the panels, which happened overnight, comes amid an ongoing federal lawsuit filed by the city of Philadelphia, seeking to reinstall and protect the slavery memorial in its original form. Although the lawsuit has not been resolved, an appeals court ruled last month that NPS can replace the exhibit while the lawsuit is pending.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker shared a statement on her X account on Wednesday, responding to the replacement of the exhibit and vowing to continue to the legal battle.

“Overnight, under the cover of darkness, the federal government removed panels at the President’s House that told a thorough history of Philadelphia. It was allowed to do this by the decision of the federal court, but that it did so at night shows it understands this action is shameful, that it violates community trust. Which it is, and which it does. But the fight is not over, as we will continue the fight,” Parker said.

She added that the city intends to request a rehearing on its case by the panel of judges at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

In April, NPS published photos of 11 new panels it planned to install. A spokesperson confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday that the panels in those photos were erected at the site. It is unclear if any of the original 34 panels are still included in the new exhibit. ABC News has reached out to NPS for comment.

"What Trump wants to do, and plans to do, is to literally whitewash and censor the site," Coard previously told ABC News.

"One [of the panels] makes the argument that slavery under George Washington in Philadelphia at the President's House wasn't really that bad because the enslaved Black folks there had 'a modicum of autonomy,'" Coard said.

Coard also pointed to new proposed language that he said highlights Washington’s "discomfort" with slavery despite the fact that the nation's first president enslaved more than 300 Black men, women, and children at his Mount Vernon estate.

The Interior Department said in its statement that the new panels tell the "full story."

"By telling the full story, every triumph, every challenge, and every step towards a more perfect union we strengthen our shared understanding and ensure that future generations inherit not just the land we love, but the truth of the journey that brought us here," the department said.

A spokesperson for the Interior Department told ABC News that the removal and planned replacement of the panels comply with President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order, "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”

The order called for the removal of "negative" and "divisive" materials from national parks and content that "disparages” Americans, living or dead.

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