The National Park Service (NPS) has removed an exhibit called “Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation” at the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.
The decision comes in the wake of a directive from US president Donald Trump to remove “corrosive ideology” from cultural heritage venues across the country. The outdoor exhibit centred the lives of nine people enslaved by George Washington, the US's first president, at the house he once inhabited, examining “the paradox between slavery and freedom in the founding of the nation”, according to the NPS website.
On 22 January, social media videos began to circulate that captured workers removing panels explaining the US slave economy, according to The New York Times. The removal seemed to be part of an effort to comply with the Trump administration’s March 2025 executive order instructing the NPS to “focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people” and warning that materials at national heritage sites would be up for review, lest they “inappropriately disparage Americans”. The Independence National Historical Park in central Philadelphia, which was established during Barack Obama’s tenure in the White House, has come under particular derision from Trump, singled out for teaching visitors that “America is purportedly racist”.
In a statement to the Times, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior said the exhibit was dismantled “in accordance with the order” to ensure “accuracy, honesty and alignment with shared national values”.
The exhibit’s removal is just one of many examples of the Trump administration’s efforts to erase large parts of US history—both distant and recent. The NPS was previously ordered to remove gift shop items that promoted “specific viewpoints” related to diversity, equity and inclusion measures. The NPS also did away with its free park admission policy on Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday and Juneteeth—instead national park admission will be free on 14 June, Trump's birthday.
In a social media post Michael Coard, a criminal defense attorney and founding member of the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, referred to the Philadelphia exhibit's removal as “blatantly racist”. The coalition was instrumental in the creation of the memorial to the enslaved at the Independence National Historical Park.
“This blatant erasure of history and educational materials from a national historic site is an attack on our freedoms to read and learn,” Kasey Meehan, the director of the Freedom to Read programme at Pen America, said in a statement. “With this censorship, the Trump administration is dictating an alarmingly narrow view of America’s history and identity. Much like public schools and public libraries, public parks ensure open access to information that is critical to a well-informed citizenry. This administration keeps showing their cards in its ongoing assault against the telling of history or celebration of diversity within schools, universities, press and now parks.”
