Josh Shapiro backs Philadelphia’s legal fight to restore exhibits about slavery at the President’s House
Mayor Parker has promised to keep ‘fighting’ to bring back the dismantled exhibits ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations this year.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is backing the City of Philadelphia’s federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration after exhibits about slavery were taken down from the President’s House last week.
Shapiro said in a news release Tuesday that Trump “picked the wrong city and the wrong Commonwealth” when dismantling exhibits at the President’s House.
“Those displays aren’t just signs — they represent our shared history, and if we want to move forward as a nation, we have to be willing to tell the full story of where we came from," Shapiro said after his office filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit from the city seeking to restore the exhibits to the President’s House.
The city filed a suit against the Department of Interior, the National Park Service, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron last week while the exhibits were being dismantled by the Park Service.
“There is no virtue in refusing to acknowledge certain aspects of our history because it is painful to do so,” according to an amicus brief filed by the governor’s counsel Tuesday evening. “The removal of the slavery exhibit from the President’s House undermines this commitment and denies Pennsylvanians and others the opportunity to learn more about a part of our history that cannot be ignored.”
Shapiro’s support comes as stakeholders across the country are voicing their outrage against the Trump administration’s efforts to sanitize United States history.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has emphasized the importance of a 2006 cooperative agreement between the city and the federal government.
Parker issued some of her most forceful comments yet against the Trump administration Tuesday night in a video posted to social media, saying that the federal government “breached” this cooperative agreement.
Parker said her administration will continue “fighting” for the panels to be restored.
“This history is a critical part of our nation’s origins, and it deserves to be seen and heard, not just by the people of Philadelphia, but by every person who comes to Philadelphia from around our nation and the world to see and learn from, especially as we celebrate our Semiquincentennial 250th birthday, I want the world to know you cannot erase our history,” Parker said.
“Yes, it is flawed, yes it is imperfect, and yes includes the real life, lived experiences and stories of people who endured a great deal of pain so that America could realize its promise,” she added.
The removal of content from national parks comes after Trump and Burgum issued orders that call for the review and potential removal of content at national parks that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
In addition to the actions in Philadelphia, signs about the mistreatment of Native Americans and climate change were removed from other parks including the Grand Canyon and Glacier National Park, according to the Washington Post.
In Shapiro’s filing Tuesday, his counsel states that the governor wanted to step in to ensure that important parts of U.S. history are continuing to be told and that he has “a compelling interest in protecting the role of state and local governments within Pennsylvania from the abuses of federal executive power,” such as the Trump administration carrying out the removal without notifying the city.
A hearing on the suit is expected to be held Friday morning.
In her video Tuesday, Parker thanked the governor and other elected officials for their support.
“Philadelphia, we are on the right side of history,” she said.
Staff Writer Abraham Gutman contributed reporting.