Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restored

Slavery education panels at the President's House Site in Philadelphia — Judge Cynthia Rufe ruled that the government does not have the power to alter historical truths

(Image credit: Matthew Hatcher / Getty Images)

What happened

A federal judge in Pennsylvania Monday ordered the Trump administration to restore an exhibit on President George Washington and slavery to a museum in Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park while the city’s lawsuit challenging last month’s removal plays out in court. The National Park Service said it removed 34 panels plus video exhibits from the President’s House Site, where Washington and John Adams lived during their presidencies, to ensure “accuracy, honesty and alignment with shared national values,” as ordered by President Donald Trump.

Who said what

U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe, a George W. Bush appointee, said the Park Service violated a law that “specifically limited” the Interior Department’s authority to “unilaterally alter or control” the historical park without consulting with the city. But she also included several references to George Orwell’s best-known dystopian novel about totalitarianism.

“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 in her 40-page opinion. “It does not.” Washington kept nine enslaved people at the Philadelphia residence, she noted, and “each person who visits the President’s House and does not learn of the realities of founding-era slavery receives a false account of this country’s history.”

What next?

Rufe’s ruling “does not give the government a deadline for the restoration of the site,” The Philadelphia Inquirer said, but it prevents further alterations. “Unless stayed by a higher court,” the injunction will remain in place until Rufe “enters her final ruling,” The New York Times said, and Monday’s opinion “signals that she believes the city has a strong case and is likely to prevail.”

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.