The President’s House on Independence Mall must be restored to include the slavery exhibit that the Trump administration abruptly removed last month, a federal judge ruled Monday.
All portions of the exhibit, including panels and artwork, must be returned and rehung at the site at Sixth and Market streets, Judge Cynthia Rufe ordered. The federal government may not make any changes to the display or hang replacement exhibits without the approval of the city, and it must must maintain upkeep of the display, including snow removal.
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“(This order) tells us that sites like the President’s House slavery memorial must remain, and sites around the country that are similar can remain,” said Michael Coard, a criminal defense attorney who led the efforts to create the President’s House exhibit. “So it emboldens everybody to fight back and win. It’s a clarion call that if you yell loud enough and persistently enough for justice, you’ll get it.”
The President’s House exhibit tells the story of nine people who were enslaved by George Washington at his home in Philadelphia during his tenure as the first president of the United States. They were taken down without warning on Jan. 22 — eight months after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum called for a review of displays that “disparage Americans past or living.”
The exhibit opened at Independence National Historical Park in 2010 as a joint endeavor between city officials, the federal government and the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, an activist group that had advocated for the exhibit.
After the exhibit was removed, the city filed a federal lawsuit demanding its return, claiming federal officials could not remove or alter the President’s House without the city’s consent. As Rufe crafted her ruling, the panels were stored at a facility near the National Constitution Center.
At a court hearing on Jan. 30, Rufe said that no more changes could be made to the exhibit until she issued her final order.