‘We will not rest’: NAACP, The Black Journey, and more, react after court backs removal of Phila. slavery exhibit
TheGrio...
The Black Journey and others say they are not backing down after a federal appeals court ruled a slavery exhibit at the President’s House in Philadelphia.
In Philadelphia, Juneteenth began with a fresh blow to the fight to preserve the stories of the people George Washington enslaved.
On Thursday, June 18, a federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration can remove and replace an exhibit at the President’s House site that detailed the lives of the nine enslaved people Washington held while living in Philadelphia during his presidency.
The decision clears the path for the National Park Service to permanently dismantle the original outdoor installation—which had stood since 2010, and names the people Washington enslaved, documenting their lives and confronting the brutal contradiction of a nation founded on freedom while allowing human bondage.
The Black Journey, a Black-owned walking tour company that has joined the fight to save the exhibit, called the ruling deeply disappointing.
“The Black Journey is deeply disappointed by today’s decision from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals,” the organization, owned and operated by Philadelphia-based attorney Raina Yancy, said in a statement to theGrio. “While we disagree with the ruling, our commitment to preserving and sharing the full history of our nation remains unchanged.”
The ruling is the latest victory in the Trump administration’s effort to strip public sites of historical displays it has labeled “improper partisan ideology.” For Philadelphia, it means a landmark created to ensure visitors understood that the first president held people in bondage—at the very site where the country’s early government took shape—may now be replaced by a version critics say softens that history.
The President’s House site sits at the corner of Sixth and Market streets in Old City, where George and Martha Washington lived with nine enslaved people in the 1790s, when Philadelphia briefly served as the nation’s capital.
In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” directing federal agencies to review public displays and remove what his administration classified as “improper partisan ideology.” In January, National Park Service workers used crowbars to remove 34 informational panels and artwork from the President’s House site and shut off video presentations.
Days later, Philadelphia sued the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service, arguing that the federal government could not alter the exhibit without the city’s approval. The city had worked with federal officials, historians and private partners to create the installation in the early 2000s and contributed $1.5 million toward it.
In February, Senior U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe ordered the government to restore the exhibit, writing that officials could not “dissemble and disassemble historical truths.” Workers began rehanging the panels before the Trump administration won a temporary order halting the work. About half of the original panels remain in place.
Thursday’s decision overturns Rufe’s injunction and allows the National Park Service to move forward with replacement panels.
The proposed new display acknowledges that Washington and John Adams used enslaved labor and references Washington’s signing of the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act. It does not, however, carry the same direct focus on the people enslaved at the President’s House or the violence of the system that kept them there.
U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas M. Hardiman defended the proposed panels in the court’s opinion, writing that they “acknowledge the evil of slavery, including its injustices and hypocrisies,” and tell the story of the nine enslaved people Washington kept at the President’s House.
When asked by Courthouse News to comment on the ruling, an Interior Department spokesperson replied to the outlet with just three words: “Trust in Trump.”
For The Black Journey, and the several other allies, including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition, the ruling has not left them deterred.
“This moment only reinforces the importance of our work,” The Black Journey said. “As stewards of the stories of the enslaved ancestors who lived and labored at the President’s House and countless others whose experiences have too often been marginalized or erased, we understand that our mission is more critical than ever.”
In a video posted to Instagram in response to the ruling, which the NAACP’s legal defense fund pointed to for their statement as well, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker vowed to use every legal resource available to continue fighting to reverse the decision.
“We cannot, and we will not rest until the full story of American history, including the existence of slavery at the President’s house here in our great city of Philadelphia, the birthplace of democracy, is told for our nation, and quite frankly, the world to see,” she said.
“I will continue to fight along with the allies who have been involved with the President’s House from the very beginning, including the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, led by our own Michael Coard, the Black Journey, and other citizens who feel passionately that there is only one way to tell American history,” she continued. “And that is to tell the truth, we will keep you posted.”
In the meantime, The Black Journey declared that history doesn’t disappear because it is removed from public view.
“The truth remains, and we will continue to tell it. We remain committed to providing the full historical context necessary to understand our shared past and its continuing impact on the present,” the organization’s statement continued. “We also continue to pursue our legal options. This is not over. The Black Journey is not going anywhere. We will continue to honor our ancestors, amplify their stories, and ensure that future generations have access to the history they deserve to know. The work continues.”