The City of Philadelphia is suing the National Park Service (NPS) after workers removed exhibits depicting slavery at the President’s House in Philadelphia.
Per the Associated Press, on Friday Jan 23, the National Park Service responded to President Trump’s executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history” at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks.
The workers removed a series of informational signs about slavery at the President’s House — once the home of Presidents George Washington and John Adams — opened in 2010.
Seeking to stop the display’s permanent removal, the city of Philadelphia on Thursday sued Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron.
The lawsuit states that NPS and the Interior Department “did not engage with the city and do not have the city’s approval to make unilateral changes to the President’s House exhibit.”
Mayor Cherelle Parker reminded residents of the city’s agreement with the federal government dates back 20 years ago.
“Let me affirm, for the residents of the city of Philadelphia, that there is a cooperative agreement between the city and the federal government that dates back to 2006,” Mayor Parker said during the press conference Friday. “That agreement requires parties to meet and confer if there are to be any changes made to an exhibit.”
National Parks Service responds
A spokesperson with the Interior Department asserted that they are following the executive order put in place by Trump.
“All federal agencies are to review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values. Following completion of the required review, the National Park Service is now taking appropriate action in accordance with the Order,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“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.”
“An effort to whitewash American history”
Critics condemned the removals as confirmation the Trump administration seeks to erase unflattering aspects of American history.
“Removing the exhibits is an effort to whitewash American history,” Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said in a statement Thursday. “History cannot be erased simply because it is uncomfortable. Removing items from the President’s House merely changes the landscape, not the historical record.”
“America’s history, as painful as some chapters are, isn’t disparaged by telling the whole truth. Trying to whitewash American history, however, disparages who we are. This is yet another egregious example of revisionist history that will be reviled for generations,” said Philadelphia state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta.
“Their shameful desecration of this exhibit raises broader, disturbing questions about this administration’s continued abuse of power and commitment to whitewashing history,” said Rep. Dwight Evans, a Democrat whose district includes the city.
“Our job as historians is to examine history, the good, the bad and the ugly, and tell the full story,” Paul Steinke, executive director at the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. “Because it’s only by understanding that full story that we can improve, we can get better over time. …To interfere with it for political reasons or because somebody wants to tell a sort of sanitized version is just wrong.”