An appeals court has allowed the Trump administration to reinstall interpretive panels at President George Washington’s home in Philadelphia. Critics claim these panels overlook the harsh realities of slavery. The National Park Service will place these signs near the site where the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776.
The new educational panels were set to replace those installed in 2010. These earlier panels described the lives of nine enslaved people who lived with George and Martha Washington in the 1790s, when Philadelphia served briefly as the nation’s capital. The changes came from Trump’s 2025 executive order, which called for federally owned historic sites to avoid information that could “disparage Americans past or living” and to highlight the “greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.”
A three-judge panel from the U.S. 3rd Circuit of Appeals, located near the President’s House site, issued a technical ruling to implement a previous decision. Judges from varied presidential nominations concluded that a lower court erred in forcing the federal government to remove the new panels. The administration requested permission to reinstall the panels, saying they were ready and should be installed “without further delay.” They assured that discussions of slavery remained part of the narrative.
Advocates, academics, and officials expressed concern that following Trump’s order may lead to a version of history that diminishes the country’s painful past, favoring a victorious narrative. Images on a government website indicate these panels would cover enslaved individuals’ histories and other related topics. However, they lack certain details, such as a map of slave trade routes and a timeline of slavery, which were present in the earlier panels. Missing headlines like “The Dirty Business of Slavery” have also sparked criticism.
Philadelphia, engaged in litigation over the previous panels’ removal, is attempting to delay the new installation. The city requested that the appeals court recall its earlier decision to provide time for its response. Philadelphia believes it would suffer harm if the new panels are installed, emphasizing the site’s historical significance and the collaborations involved in revealing its long-suppressed story.
Earlier this year, approximately half of the previous panels were put back up before a court halted the work.