President’s House advocates vow to keep fighting despite the new exhibit — and a vandalism citation

Sandra Shachar has been posting news articles on the walls of the President’s House Site almost every day since January.

She was outraged that President Donald Trump’s administration had dismantled the exhibit telling the story of the nine people George Washington enslaved in his executive mansion at Sixth and Market Streets, and sharing information with visitors was her way to push back.

When she arrived at Independence Mall on Wednesday morning, new panels were on the historic site’s walls. The National Park Service had installed a new exhibit before dawn.

But Shachar, 72, continued with her routine. This time, two park rangers stopped her.

“When I went to tape my sign up, they came and said, ‘You can’t do that. Please stop,’” the psychologist from Center City said.

The rangers issued Shachar a citation for vandalism, which carried a $305 fine, and warned her that next time she could be arrested.

The news came as a gut punch.

“It was something I could do,” Shachar said. “And now for doing something, I’m issued a citation that says I have created vandalism on federal property.”

The vandalism citation marks an escalation in the National Park Service’s response to protest at the President’s House, and comes as activists promise to keep the fight over the site’s history alive.

The National Park Service installed the new exhibit early Wednesday, hours after the city hosted MLB All-Star Game events near the site.

Michael Coard, leader of Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, a group that has fought to develop and protect the President’s House exhibit, spoke at the site shortly after noon and vowed resistance.

“I don’t care whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative … this is some scary [expletive],” Coard said. “Despite being very afraid, we got to keep fighting.”

Fascist leaders throughout history have attempted to rewrite the past as part of their campaign to control the future, the attorney said. And that is the level of threat the Trump administration’s changes to the President’s House represent, Coard said.

» READ MORE: Slavery exhibits at the President’s House have been swapped for the Trump administration’s version

The new panels have been criticized for minimizing the brutality of slavery, whitewashing George Washington’s culpability, and shifting the focus away from the nine people who were kept in bondage at the nation’s first executive mansion.

It is outrageous that visitors will see panels that, for example, discuss Washington’s “discomfort” with slavery and suggest the lives of those enslaved in Philadelphia were not too bad, Coard said.

“The fact that the federal government would ignore the hell of slavery for the victim but highlight the president’s ‘discomfort,’” Coard said. “What kind of nonsense is that?”

Avenging the Ancestors Coalition’s goal continues to be the full restoration of the site with the original panels that had been developed through partnership with the city and input from the community. The group is exploring new legal strategies, Coard said.

The city is also not done fighting, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said in a statement.

Her administration plans to ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for a new hearing, giving city attorneys a chance to argue their case again.

A three-judge panel held that the city has no rights over the site and dismissed all but one count in Philadelphia’s underlying lawsuit.

The case raises “serious legal issues” that go beyond the President’s House, Parker said.

“I will continue fighting on behalf of everyone who supports the core belief: All of our history must be told,” the mayor’s statement said.

It will be up to the Third Circuit to decide whether to grant a second hearing to an issue that three judges had agreed on unanimously.

The efforts to educate visitors about the President’s House continue as well.

Old City Remembers, a grassroots effort, will continue to register volunteers to read aloud the text of the removed signs. And the Black Journey: African-American Walking Tour of Philadelphia will continue to offer tours that tell the story of those enslaved at the site.

Brian Wells, 65, has been putting up protest posters on the President’s House walls since the day after the January removal. On Tuesday, Wells said, national park police stopped him from taping papers and threatened him with arrest.

He thought the heightened security was because of an MLB All-Star event held Tuesday on Independence Mall, but now that the panels have been replaced, he isn’t so sure.

“I will continue with Old City Remembers folks to volunteer to read aloud the text from the former panels,” Wells said Wednesday. “Other actions? I don’t know at this point.”