Federal court sides with Trump about slave history panels at National Park site

A federal appeals court has sided with the Trump administration in the decision to remove display panels about slave history at the President's House site in Philadelphia.

Activists accused the administration of trying to white out the troubling slave history of the site where Presidents George Washington and John Adams once lived.

'The decision to do this appears to be made because the President's House Site memorialized the nine enslaved individuals that were held there against their will by President Washington.'

A lower court had ordered the National Park Service to restore the panels, but a 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals panel found unanimously on Thursday that the order should be overturned.

The appeals court said the lower court had misinterpreted the contract between the NPS and the city of Philadelphia and also found the replacement installation was "full of historical context."

The court added that the replacement installations "highlight the momentous events that took place in the President's House and the other sites at Independence National Historical Park."

Workers removed the slavery panels from the site on the corner of 6th and Market Streets in Old City in Jan. 2026.

Paul Steinke of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia called the removal a "terrible day" for American history.

"The decision to do this appears to be made because the President's House Site memorialized the nine enslaved individuals that were held there against their will by President Washington and his wife, Martha," he said to CBS News, "and this is the only federal historic site that commemorates the history of slavery in America."

The city of Philadelphia sued NPS and argued that it had violated their agreement to seek "communication and consultation" before implementing any changes to the site.

District Judge Cynthia Rufe, who was nominated by former President George W. Bush, opened her ruling against the administration back in February with a quote from George Orwell's "1984."

RELATED: Judge orders Trump administration to restore slavery exhibits to presidential home site

An NPS spokesperson mocked the city of Philadelphia after the original ruling.

"We encourage the City of Philadelphia to focus on getting their jobless rates down and ending their reckless cashless bail policy," the statement reads, "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."

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