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A federal judge has mandated the reinstatement of an exhibit detailing the lives of nine individuals enslaved by George Washington at his former residence in Philadelphia. The display, located at Independence National Historical Park, must be restored by the National Park Service after its removal last month under the Trump administration. This decision was handed down on Presidents Day, a holiday commemorating Washington’s legacy.
The city of Philadelphia initiated legal action in January following the removal of the informational panels from the park. These panels offered insights into the lives of George and Martha Washington and the nine enslaved people who lived with them during the 1790s when Philadelphia served as the temporary capital of the United States.
The panels were taken down in response to an executive order issued by former President Donald Trump. This order, aimed at “restoring truth and sanity to American history,” instructed the Interior Department to ensure that national museums, parks, and landmarks do not feature content deemed to “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe ruled that the original exhibit materials must be reinstated pending the outcome of a lawsuit contesting the legality of their removal. She also prohibited the installation of any alternative displays that might present the historical narrative differently.
Judge Rufe, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, opened her written decision with a reference to George Orwell’s novel “1984.” She drew parallels between the Trump administration’s actions and the novel’s fictional Ministry of Truth, which is known for altering historical records to fit its own agenda.
“As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto ‘Ignorance is Strength,’ this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims — to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts,” Rufe wrote. “It does not.”
She had warned Justice Department lawyers during a January hearing that they were making “dangerous” and “horrifying” statements when they said Trump officials can choose which parts of U.S. history to display at National Park Service sites.
The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling, which came while government offices were closed for the federal holiday.
The judge did not provide a timeline for when the exhibit must be restored. Federal officials can appeal the ruling.
The historical site is among several where the administration has quietly removed content about the history of enslaved people, LGBTQ+ people and Native Americans.
Signage that has disappeared from Grand Canyon National Park said settlers pushed Native American tribes “off their land” for the park to be established and “exploited” the landscape for mining and grazing.
Last week, a rainbow flag was taken down at the Stonewall National Monument, where bar patrons rebelled against a police raid and catalyzed the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. The administration has also removed references to transgender people from its webpage about the monument, despite several trans women of color being key figures in the uprising.
The Philadelphia exhibit, created two decades ago in a partnership between the city and federal officials, included biographical details about each of the nine people enslaved by the Washingtons at the home, including two who escaped.
Among them was Oney Judge, who was born into slavery at the family’s plantation in Mount Vernon, Virginia, and later escaped from their Philadelphia house in 1796. Judge fled north to New Hampshire, a free state, while Washington had her declared a fugitive and published advertisements seeking her return.
Because Judge had escaped from the Philadelphia house, the National Park Service in 2022 added it to a national network of Underground Railroad sites where the agency pledged to “honor, preserve and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight.”
Rufe said the removal of materials about Judge “conceals crucial information linking the site” to the network.
Only the names of Judge and the other eight enslaved people — Austin, Paris, Hercules, Richmond, Giles, Moll and Joe, who each had a single name, and Christopher Sheels — remained engraved in a cement wall after federal employees took a crowbar to the plaques on Jan. 22.
Hercules also escaped in 1797 after he was brought to Mount Vernon, where the Washingtons had many other slaves. He reached New York City despite being declared a fugitive slave and lived under the name Hercules Posey.
Several local politicians and Black community leaders celebrated the ruling, which came while many were out rallying at the site for its restoration.
State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, a Philadelphia Democrat, said the community prevailed against an attempt by the Trump administration to “whitewash our history.”
“Philadelphians fought back, and I could not be more proud of how we stood together,” he said.