Workers in Philadelphia reinstalled a slavery exhibit that President Trump ordered dismantled. The exhibits and slavery educational material were restored at President’s House Site in Philadelphia on Thursday.
The National Park Service confirmed the materials restored at the site are the same plaques that were removed in January.
The exhibits were removed by the National Park Service after Mr. Trump issued an executive order called “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”
“Today we celebrate the return of our history at this important site,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said in a statement. “We are thankful for all the supporters across the city to get us to this point. We know that this is not the end of the legal road. We will handle all legal challenges that arise with the same rigor and gravity as we have done thus far.”
A federal judge denied a motion for a stay by the Trump administration.
Philadelphians expressed outrage after workers removed the plaques from the site on January 22. The city of Philadelphia filed a lawsuit in federal court to have the plaques reinstalled.
On Feb. 16, Judge Cynthia M. Rufe ordered the Trump administration to restore the historic site and not install any “replacement materials” without a mutual agreement with the City of Philadelphia.
The Trump administration filed an appeal on Feb. 17. In a statement, a Department of the Interior spokesperson said the exhibit didn’t tell the full story of the history of slavery. “Updated interpretive materials providing a fuller account of the history of slavery at Independence Hall would have been installed in the coming days,” the spokesperson said.
