Philadelphia Appeals Mandate Letting Trump Replace 34 Slavery Panels Before July 4
Updated
Updated · abcnews.com · Jul 3
Philadelphia Appeals Mandate Letting Trump Replace 34 Slavery Panels Before July 4
3 articles · Updated · abcnews.com · Jul 3
Summary
Friday’s mandate made the 3rd Circuit’s June 18 ruling effective immediately, clearing the Trump administration to swap out the President’s House slavery exhibit in Philadelphia ahead of the July 4 weekend.
The Interior Department sought the accelerated order a day earlier, saying the site should be fully installed without delay under Trump’s March 2025 directive to remove “negative” and “divisive” historical material.
Philadelphia moved to appeal Friday afternoon, arguing the court issued the mandate without giving the city enough time to answer the government’s Thursday request.
Only 16 of the exhibit’s 34 original panels are now standing after the site was taken down in January and partly restored in February; critics say the replacement text softens George Washington’s role and the brutality of slavery.
The dispute over the memorial—built to tell the story of nine people Washington enslaved at the nation’s first executive mansion—is emerging as a test case for how far the administration can reshape historical sites nationwide.