The Trump administration completed an overnight overhaul of exhibits at Philadelphia’s President’s House Site, replacing displays focused on slavery with new interpretive panels that critics say present a more favorable portrayal of George Washington and diminish the experiences of the people he enslaved.
The changes were installed late Tuesday, only days after a federal appeals court ruled that Philadelphia could not control the historical interpretation of the federally owned memorial, clearing the way for the National Park Service to move forward with the redesign.
The timing of the installation drew immediate criticism from city leaders.
“The federal government acted under the cover of darkness,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said in a statement. While acknowledging the court’s ruling allowed the changes, Parker said completing the work overnight “shows it understands this action is shameful” and violates community trust.
Civil rights attorney Michael Coard, speaking outside the site Tuesday, called the redesign an attempt to rewrite history.
“To say that we are outraged is an understatement,” Coard said.
The President’s House memorial marks the location where Washington lived while serving as the nation’s first president between 1790 and 1797. Historians have documented that he enslaved nine people at the residence and rotated some of them between Pennsylvania and Virginia to avoid a state law that could have allowed them to claim their freedom after six months of residency.
The revised exhibit continues to reference slavery but shifts its emphasis toward Washington’s presidency, the founding of the nation and early anti-slavery efforts.
One panel formerly titled “The Dirty Business of Slavery” has been replaced with an exhibit called “Celebrating Independence Throughout the Years.”
Other displays highlight Washington’s gradual evolution on slavery, noting that he helped draft the Fairfax Resolves in 1774, which condemned the transatlantic slave trade, and later became increasingly supportive of gradual abolition.
The exhibit also points to legislation Washington signed that both reinforced and limited slavery, including the Fugitive Slave Act, the Northwest Ordinance and the Slave Trade Act of 1794. Additional panels discuss Quaker abolitionists and emphasize that the words “slave” and “slavery” do not appear in the text of the U.S. Constitution.
The redesign concludes a months-long dispute between Philadelphia officials and the federal government over who controls the site’s historical narrative.
Supporters of the changes argue the updated displays provide broader context about Washington’s presidency and the nation’s founding. Critics counter that the revisions reduce attention on the enslaved people who lived and worked at the executive mansion, replacing a direct examination of slavery with a broader celebration of America’s early history.
The President’s House Site, located near Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, has become one of the nation’s most visible locations for interpreting the complicated legacy of the country’s founding and its relationship to slavery.
