Trump administration considers removing Independence National Historical Park exhibits for depicting American history in a 'negative light'

Evgenia Anastasakos, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jul 23, 2025

Published in News & Features

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PHILADELPHIA — At Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, the Trump administration will soon decide whether to remove displays addressing the history of slavery.

The park is home to the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Congress Hall and the President’s House memorial that commemorates the nine enslaved people who George Washington brought from his home at Mount Vernon to Philadelphia.

The site will play a key role in the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations in 2026, which have received millions of dollars in state and municipal investment and are expected to attract scores of out-of-state visitors.

The displays were flagged for review in accordance with a Trump administration order directing National Park Service staff to identify language and historical depictions that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living,” according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times.

The order also directed the secretary of the Department of the Interior to provide “sufficient funding, as available” to restore Independence Hall ahead of the upcoming semiquincentennial celebration.

The Trump administration gave parks and historical sites until last week to submit materials for review. Last month, it also instructed staff to display QR codes and signs asking visitors to report “inappropriate content.”

In the documents reviewed by the Times, Independence National Historical Park employees raised concerns about an exhibit panel discussing the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, which required all states, including “free states,” to return enslaved people who had escaped from other states. They said an illustration depicting George Washington’s hands signing the act, while a group of white men attack four black men in the background, “may need revision.”

Another exhibit, about freedom and slavery at the President’s House, was also submitted for review.

Meanwhile, at the Liberty Bell, staff highlighted a panel discussing the bell’s extensive travels to expositions and celebrations around the country during the post-Reconstruction period, saying it referred to “systemic and violent racism and sexism that existed at the time.”

Trump’s executive order also called out Independence National Historical Park, in particular, claiming that the Biden administration had “sponsored training by an organization that advocates dismantling ‘Western foundations’ and ‘interrogating institutional racism’ and pressured National Historical Park rangers that their racial identity should dictate how they convey history to visiting Americans because America is purportedly racist.”

The Trump administration has said it will remove “inappropriate” content by Sept. 17.

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