US National Park Service removes slavery exhibit in Philadelphia

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) – U.S. National Park Service staff have removed a slavery exhibit from a Philadelphia historic site in line with ​President Donald Trump’s claims, rejected by civil rights groups, of “anti-American ideology” at ‌historical and cultural institutions.

The exhibit was at the President’s House Site in Independence National Historical Park, ‌where the first U.S. president, George Washington, lived when the Pennsylvania city was the nation’s capital. It described the history of slavery and Washington’s ownership of enslaved people.

The outdoor exhibit was dismantled and removed on Thursday, according to media footage and activists.

“The President ⁠has directed federal agencies to ‌review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values,” the Interior Department, which includes the park service, told ‍Reuters in a statement responding to a query on the exhibit’s removal.

“Following completion of the required review, the National Park Service is now taking action to remove or revise interpretive materials ​in accordance with the Order.”

Late on Thursday, the President’s House website still said ‌its “outdoor exhibits examine the paradox between slavery and freedom in the new nation.”

The Republican president alarmed civil rights advocates last year with an executive order that said he was fighting against “a false revision of history.” He has complained about what he casts as excessive focus on “how bad Slavery was.”

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said “Trump ⁠will take any opportunity to rewrite and whitewash ​our history,” responding to a video of the ​dismantling of the exhibits posted by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Civil rights groups say the Trump administration is rolling back social progress and undermining the ‍acknowledgment of critical phases ⁠of American history.

They have criticized Trump over his immigration crackdown, assault on diversity initiatives, funding freeze on universities over pro-Palestinian protests and attacks against cultural ⁠institutions for a focus on slavery.

The largest U.S. civil rights group said this month he was ‌being deceptive when he said civil rights hurt white people.

(Reporting by Kanishka ‌Singh in Washington; Editing by William Mallard)