Suburbs back Philly in President's House showdown
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Philly's suburban counties are joining the city's fight against the Trump administration over slavery-related exhibits removed last month from Independence National Historic Park.
Why it matters: Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware and Chester counties say the outcome of the Parker administration's lawsuit could deter the National Park Service from taking similar action at other sites nationwide.
Driving the news: The four collar counties have asked a federal judge for permission to file an amicus brief supporting the city.
- In the proposed brief, the counties say that their historic sites are governed by similar cooperative agreements as the one NPS has with Philly at the President's House, which opened in 2010 and highlights the lives of nine of George Washington's slaves. It's important to safeguard an "honest and inclusive representation" of those sites' history.
- Thousands of visitors are traveling to Philadelphia — the country's birthplace of democracy — this year for the nation's 250th birthday celebrations, but their trips could be "marked by a gaping historical absence" unless the President's House is restored, per the brief.
What they're saying: The counties, which are asking the court to order NPS to immediately restore the exhibits, are "proud to stand" with Philadelphia in its fight against "white-washing our history," Jamila Winder, chair of the Montgomery County commissioners, said in a statement.
Catch up quick: After the exhibits were removed on Jan. 22, the Parker administration sued Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron, and their agencies.
- The city said the removal was "arbitrary and capricious" and violated a long-standing agreement requiring NPS to consult the city before making changes to the exhibits.
- The Shapiro administration joined the lawsuit, and last week, a federal judge temporarily ordered NPS to safeguard the stored exhibits and halted any further removals while the case proceeds.
- The city was also instructed to file an updated brief, more fully explaining why the exhibits should be restored.
The other side: NPS has said the exhibits were removed to comply with President Trump's order, issued last spring, to restore the nation's cultural institutions changed in 2020 "to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history."
- NPS attorneys argued in court that the cooperative agreement with Philly expired, and the agency doesn't need permission to remove the exhibits.
The latest: The city says in its latest court filing that it has poured at least $1.5 million into the joint restoration of the President's House.
- The site was designated as a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site in 2022, based on the history of Ona Judge, an enslaved woman who escaped from the house in 1796, per the court filing.
- Erasing Judge's story "unequivocally contradicts the express direction of Congress to create, not destroy, sites that educate the public about the Underground Railroad," the city's lawyers wrote.
What we're watching: The judge handling the case has pledged to make a quick decision and not allow the case to "drag into the summer," per a court transcript of the hearing.