Judge orders Trump administration to restore George Washington slavery exhibit
Senior U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania inspects the location of the now-removed explanatory panels that were part of an exhibit on slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia on Feb. 2, 2026. (Photo by Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)
A federal judge in Philadelphia on Monday ordered the Trump administration to restore an exhibit about people enslaved by former President George Washington at his former home in Philadelphia.
In a 40-page ruling, Senior U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania cited George Orwell’s classic book 1984 while castigating the administration for claiming that it has the power to “erase, alter, remove and hide historical accounts on taxpayer and local government-funded monuments within its control.”
“As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto ‘Ignorance Is Strength,’ this court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims—to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts,” Rufe wrote. “It does not.”
Rufe, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, added that visitors who go to Washington’s home and don’t learn about the realities of slavery receive a “false account of this country’s history.”
The U.S. Department of the Interior said in a statement it plans to appeal.
The National Park Service last month removed explanatory panels from the Independence National Historical Park, where George and Martha Washington lived with nine of their slaves—back when Philadelphia was the nation’s first capital.
The action came after President Donald Trump issued an executive order last year “restoring truth and sanity to American history” at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks. The order directs the Interior Department to ensure that historical sites do not display information that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
The Independence National Historical Park is among several historical sites where the administration has removed content about the history of enslaved people, LGBTQ+ people and Native Americans, according to the Associated Press and the Washington Post.
In response to the administration’s removal of information about slavery, the city of Philadelphia sued the Interior Department and the National Park Service.
Rufe granted a preliminary injunction to the city of Philadelphia. The order means that the Trump administration must return the exhibit while the underlying lawsuit proceeds in court.
The judge’s decision was released on Presidents Day, the federal holiday honoring Washington’s legacy.
“An agency … cannot arbitrarily decide what is true, based on its own whims or the whims of the new leadership,” Rufe wrote, pointing out that it’s not disputed that Washington owned slaves.
Rufe also emphasized in the ruling that Washington’s “restraint and modesty radiated strength and wisdom that defines the ideal chief executive to this day.”
The National Park Service has responded in a statement that it “routinely updates exhibits across the park system to ensure historical accuracy and completeness.”
“If not for this unnecessary judicial intervention, updated interpretive materials providing a fuller account of the history of slavery at Independence Hall would have been installed in the coming days,” the statement reads.
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