The US National Park Service has removed an outdoor exhibit titled “Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation” at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. The exhibit, which focused on nine people enslaved by George Washington and explored the paradox between slavery and freedom in the nation's founding, was dismantled following a directive from President Donald Trump to eliminate “corrosive ideology” from cultural heritage sites. The removal, captured on social media on January 22, aligns with a March 2025 executive order instructing the NPS to emphasize American achievements and avoid materials that “inappropriately disparage Americans.”
The removal matters because it exemplifies the Trump administration's broader efforts to control historical narratives at national heritage sites, including previous orders to remove diversity-related gift shop items and change free admission days from Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and Juneteenth to Trump's birthday. Critics, including attorney Michael Coard and Pen America's Kasey Meehan, have condemned the action as racist censorship and an attack on public access to history, raising concerns about the politicization of public parks and the erasure of difficult chapters in American history.