The city of Philadelphia filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over the National Parks Service’s removal of a slavery exhibit at the President’s House.
The city of Philadelphia filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday against the Trump administration over the National Parks Service’s removal of the slavery memorial at the President’s House in the city — an exhibit that honored the lives of the nine people enslaved there by George Washington.
The complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, against the National Parks Service (NPS) and the U.S. Department of Interior, which oversees NPS. The lawsuit also names Interior Sec. Doug Burgum and NPS Acting Director Jessica Bowron.
The city argues that by removing the panels telling the stories of the enslaved people „without notice“, NPS violated various congressional laws, as well as a 2006 agreement NPS made with the city and laid out the terms for building the exhibit, which opened to the public in 2010.
„Defendants violated the agreements with the City and have not provided any rationale for their abrupt change in course, rendering their actions arbitrary and capricious and not in accordance with law“, the complaint alleges.
The lawsuit argues that because the city of Philadelphia had an „equal right“ under the 2006 agreement to „approve the final design“ of the President’s House Project, the city should also have the authority to review and approve any changes to the exhibit.
