The removal is in accordance with an executive order issued by President Trump, according to the Department of the Interior.
On Thursday, the city of Philadelphia filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the removal of a slavery memorial at the President’s House in the city.
The complaint was filed against the National Parks Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The lawsuit names Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and National Parks Service Acting Director Jessica Bowron.
In the lawsuit, the city argues that the National Parks Service violated various laws, as well as a 2006 agreement made between the National Parks Service and the city that laid out the terms for building the exhibit.
The exhibit opened to the public in 2010.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said during a press conference, “Let me affirm for the residents of the city of Philadelphia that there is a cooperative agreement between the city and the federal government that dates back to 2006. That agreement requires parties to meet and confer if there are to be any changes made to an exhibit.”
“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 the law,” alleges the complaint.
“The City’s right to approve the exhibit’s final design, including the interpretive displays, would be meaningless if the NPS could at any time later change or remove the displays without the City’s approval,” says the lawsuit.
A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior pointed to an executive order issued by President Trump as the reasoning behind the removal of the exhibit.
The spokesperson said the removal complies with the president’s March 27, 2025, executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.
“At Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – where our Nation declared that all men are created equal – the prior administration sponsored training by an organization that advocates dismantling ‘Western foundations’ and ‘interrogating institutional racism’ and pressured National Historical Park rangers that their racial identity should dictate how they convey history to visiting Americans because America is purportedly racist,” says the executive order.
“All federal agencies are to review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values. Following completion of the required review, the National Park Service is now taking appropriate action in accordance with the [Executive] Order,” said the Interior Department’s spokesperson.
The spokesperson said the city has filed “frivolous lawsuits in the hopes of demeaning our brave Founding Fathers who set the brilliant road map for the greatest country in the world – the United States of America.”
