Trump administration appeals order to restore George Washington slavery exhibit in Philadelphia

Trump admin appeals order

U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe, in view of Independence Hall, departs after inspecting the location of the now removed explanatory panels that were part of an exhibit on slavery at President's House Site in Philadelphia, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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The Trump administration will appeal a federal judge's order to restore a Philadelphia exhibit on the nine people enslaved by George Washington at his former home on Independence Mall.

The Justice Department insists the administration alone can decide what stories are told at National Park Service properties. Park service workers last month abruptly removed exhibits from the Philadelphia site, prompting the city and other supporters of the exhibit to sue.

U.S. Senior Judge Cynthia M. Rufe on Monday granted an injunction ordering that the materials be restored while the lawsuit proceeds and barring Trump officials from creating new interpretations of the site’s history. The administration on Tuesday filed a notice of appeal with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, also based in Philadelphia.

Rufe, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, compared President Donald Trump's administration to the totalitarian regime in the dystopian novel “1984,” which revised historical records to align with its narrative.

“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.”

Millions of people are expected to visit Philadelphia, the nation's birthplace, this year for the 250th anniversary of the country's founding in 1776.

The historical site is among several where the administration has quietly removed content about the history of enslaved people, LGBTQ+ people and Native Americans.