National Park Service Installs New Slavery Memorial Panels at Philadelphia Site

The National Park Service installed 11 new panels at the slavery memorial at the President’s House exhibit in Philadelphia overnight on or before July 15. The site marks where President George Washington lived from 1790 to 1797 and enslaved nine men and women.

An Interior Department spokesperson said the panels supply historical context, acknowledge the evils of slavery, and recount the stories of the nine enslaved people.

The department had previously described the prior panels as disparaging Washington. The replacement complies with President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which directed removal of materials from national parks deemed negative, divisive, or disparaging to Americans.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker stated the panels were removed under the cover of darkness and said the city will request a rehearing before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

The city filed a federal lawsuit seeking to reinstall and protect the original panels. An appeals court ruled last month that the National Park Service may replace the exhibit while the lawsuit proceeds. In April the agency had published photos of the 11 panels now confirmed installed.

Michael Coard, founder of the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, said at a July 15 press conference that the new panels are mythological and fail to tell the whole truth. He noted one panel states that enslaved Black people at the site had a modicum of autonomy.