Federal Judge Mandates Restoration of Slavery Exhibit at George Washington's Philadelphia Residence
A federal judge has ordered the immediate restoration of an educational exhibit detailing the lives of nine individuals enslaved by George Washington at his former Philadelphia home. This ruling comes after the Trump administration controversially removed the display panels last month. U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe issued the decision on Presidents Day, a federal holiday dedicated to honoring Washington's legacy, emphasizing that historical truths cannot be selectively erased by government authorities.
Legal Battle Over Historical Interpretation
The city of Philadelphia initiated a lawsuit in January following the National Park Service's removal of explanatory panels from Independence National Historical Park. This site served as the residence for George and Martha Washington along with nine of their enslaved people during the 1790s, when Philadelphia briefly functioned as the nation's capital. The removal was executed in compliance with a Trump executive order titled "restoring truth and sanity to American history," which directed the Interior Department to eliminate content deemed to "inappropriately disparage Americans past or living" from museums, parks, and landmarks.
Judge Rufe, appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, ruled that all materials must be reinstated to their original condition while the legal challenge regarding the removal's legality proceeds. She explicitly prohibited Trump administration officials from installing alternative displays that might reinterpret this historical narrative. In her written order, Judge Rufe opened with a poignant quote from George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984," drawing a stark comparison between the Trump administration and the book's totalitarian Ministry of Truth, which manipulated historical records to fit its own ideological framework.
"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," Rufe wrote. "It does not."
Broader Context of Historical Erasure
This incident is not isolated. The historical site in Philadelphia is among several locations where the administration has discreetly removed content related to enslaved individuals, LGBTQ+ communities, and Native Americans. For instance, signage at Grand Canyon National Park that described how settlers displaced Native American tribes and exploited the landscape for mining and grazing has vanished. Additionally, last week, a rainbow flag was taken down at the Stonewall National Monument, a pivotal site in the LGBTQ+ rights movement, and references to transgender individuals were erased from the monument's webpage, despite their significant role in the historic uprising.
The Philadelphia exhibit, developed two decades ago through a collaboration between the city and federal officials, provided biographical details about each of the nine enslaved people, including two who managed to escape. Among them was Oney Judge, born into slavery at the Washington family's plantation in Mount Vernon, Virginia, who escaped from the Philadelphia house in 1796. Judge fled to New Hampshire, a free state, while Washington declared her a fugitive and published advertisements seeking her recapture.
Due to Judge's escape from the Philadelphia residence, the National Park Service had supported the site's inclusion in a national network of Underground Railroad locations in 2022, where educational programs about abolitionists and escaped slaves were planned. Judge Rufe noted that materials about Judge were among those removed, which she stated "conceals crucial information linking the site to the Network to Freedom."
Community Response and Celebration
Following the removal, only the names of the nine enslaved individuals — Austin, Paris, Hercules, Richmond, Giles, Moll, Joe, and Christopher Sheels — remained engraved in a cement wall after park service employees used a crowbar to detach the plaques on January 22. Hercules, another enslaved person, escaped in 1797 after being taken to Mount Vernon and eventually reached New York City, where he lived under the name Hercules Posey despite being declared a fugitive slave.
Local politicians and Black community leaders hailed the judge's ruling, which coincided with rallies at the site demanding the exhibit's restoration. State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta, a Philadelphia Democrat, expressed pride in the community's resilience, stating that they successfully countered an attempt by the Trump administration to "whitewash our history."
"Philadelphians fought back, and I could not be more proud of how we stood together," Kenyatta remarked. The judge did not specify a timeline for the restoration, and federal officials retain the right to appeal the decision. The Interior Department has not yet responded to requests for comment on the ruling, which was issued while government offices were closed for the federal holiday.
