Editor's note: This adds reaction from the Department of the Interior.
A district court judge in Pennsylvania says the National Park Service must bring back items taken down from the President's House site in Philadelphia, after the city filed a lawsuit over the removal of an exhibit about the history of slavery.
The court order requires the Park Service to restore the President's House to the way it appeared before the removal in late January of the exhibit titled "Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation." The site is part of Independence National Historical Park and was home to George Washington and John Adams during their presidencies.
The Department of Interior immediately filed an appeal.
"We disagree with the court’s ruling," the department said in a statement via e-mail Tuesday afternoon. "The National Park Service routinely updates exhibits across the park system to ensure historical accuracy and completeness."
The interpretive display, installed in 2010, featured original brick from the house and depicted people enslaved by Washington as well as a timeline detailing the history of slavery in the United States. It was removed in response to an executive order that called for the review or removal of information or signage at national parks that “disparages Americans past and living.”
More than 1,000 items from across the National Park Service were tagged for review since the order was issued last year. In some cases, information related to climate change, slavery, Japanese internment, Native American history, and LGBTQ+ history has been flagged or removed entirely. The attempts to whitewash history and downplay diversity also come ahead of celebrations planned this summer to mark the nation's 250th birthday.
The City of Philadelphia filed the lawsuit against the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, and Acting Director of the National Park Service Jessica Bowron after the President's House exhibit was removed. The lawsuit argued that the government wrongfully removed panels and exhibits without consulting the city as required under a cooperative agreement developed in 2006.
Federal District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe issued the ruling Monday ordering that the exhibit and any other removed items be restored. Previously, Rufe had ordered a temporary ban on any further changes at the park.
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