January 22, 2026
Michaela Althouse/PhillyVoice
Exhibits about slavery at the President’s House in Independence National Historical Park were removed Thursday following a monthslong effort by the Trump administration to alter the monument.
Exhibits honoring nine people who were enslaved at George Washington's house in Center City were dismantled by National Park Service employees Thursday afternoon, months after a Trump administration review put the memorial's future in doubt.
Exhibits on the exterior of the house at Sixth and Market streets, where Washington lived as president in Philadelphia, were stripped from the brick facade of the building. Monitors and text displays, which told the stories of the enslaved people and offered background on the slave trade, were gone by nightfall. The names of the nine people etched into the wall of the building remained unaltered.
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"This historically outrageous and blatantly racist destruction began at around 3:30 p.m. today," Michael Coard, the criminal defense attorney who spearheaded the memorial's installation in 2010, said Thursday afternoon.
In May, U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered a review of any federal display that "disparages Americans past or living." Exhibits across the country, including 20 at Smithsonian museums in Washington, were flagged by the White House as "ideological" displays subject to review and removal. The slavery exhibit in Philadelphia was not mentioned directly, but the New York Times reported in September it was on the chopping block.
An engraved list of the nine people who President George Washington enslaved was still on display at the President’s House on Thursday evening despite the dismantling of other exhibits.
This photo above shows one of the President's House displays months before it was removed by the National Park Service.
The removal of the exhibits prompted Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration to file a lawsuit Thursday as it reviews a 2006 agreement between the city and the federal government that could require advance notice for changes to the site, the Inquirer reported.
Coard said his organization, Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, is reviewing its own response to the removal of the exhibits and plans to fight the decision.
In August, demonstrators rallied outside the memorial to protest the White House review and the possible threat to numerous displays at Independence National Historical Park. City Council unanimously passed a resolution in September condemning the president's attack on historical sites.
"We know that George Washington had slaves, it's a part of American history," Council President Kenyatta Johnson said in September. "When we celebrate the 250th celebration of America, that should be part of the record as well. Donald Trump's approach to whitewash American history shouldn't be tolerated and will not be tolerated."
Coard and ATAC celebrated the 15th anniversary of the memorial in December, and Coard recalled the lengthy effort to get the exhibits installed. He said he had never been taught in school about Washington owning slaves in Philadelphia and didn't learn about it until he was a practicing lawyer.
"This thing is here, so children 5, 10, 20 years from now won't have the gaps in history that I had from not knowing," Coard said in December. "... It's an open-air library to tell you everything you need to know about George Washington here in Philly, about slavery here in Philly."
PhillyVoice staff writer Michaela Althouse contributed to this report.
