Ginny Roscamp, ginny.roscamp@sierraclub.org
PHILADELPHIA — On Monday, February 16, a federal judge ordered the Trump Administration to restore signage at Independence National Historical Park examining the legacy of slavery at the site. The signage was removed on January 21, and the city of Philadelphia quickly sued the federal government to restore it, citing breach of a cooperative agreement.
The interpretive display, located at the President’s House Site at the park, depicted individuals who had been enslaved by George Washington, along with a timeline detailing the history of slavery in America. Washington and John Adams both resided at the site during their presidencies.
In the ruling, Judge Cynthia M. Rufe ordered the Department of Interior and National Park Service to restore the site to the way it was on January 21, before the signage was removed. The ruling also ordered that all items must be kept safe and secure, and while the lawsuit is ongoing, the Trump Administration cannot install new materials without an agreement with the City of Philadelphia.
The signage removals are part of a broader directive from the Trump Administration to “review” signs and exhibits at national parks and national monuments that come in conflict with Trump’s executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history”. In recent weeks, signage about climate change and Native American history was ordered to be removed at multiple popular national park sites, and brochures about civil rights were removed and then restored at a national monument in Mississippi.
In January, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for refusing to release information related to the Administration’s efforts to erase history on public lands.
In response, Gerry James, deputy director of the Sierra Club’s Outdoors For All campaign, released the following statement:
“This court order affirms a simple truth: our national parks must tell the full story of our nation’s history, not a whitewashed version of it. Erasing the stories of enslaved people doesn’t change the past — it only undermines public trust and disrespects communities whose stories were ignored for so long. National parks and historical sites should be places for learning and reflection, which requires confronting the full, complex history of our country.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.