Philadelphia responds to mandate allowing slavery exhibit at President's House to be replaced

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The City of Philadelphia is once again fighting back against the federal government's push to remove the slavery exhibit at the President's House site on Independence Mall.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the city filed its opposition to the appellate court mandate that cleared the way for the Trump administration to replace the slavery exhibit at the site.

The Trump administration wants the display, which tells the stories of the nine people enslaved by George Washington, to be replaced with an exhibit portraying Washington in a more favorable light.

The appeals court delivered a win for the Trump administration last week, clearing the way for all the current panels to be removed.

The city requested that decision be recalled. A judge denied that, but they did grant the city a chance to respond to the ruling.

In a court filing on Tuesday, the city said the ruling didn't follow proper procedure.

It also reiterated the importance of the panels, saying, "Once the Government removes or replaces the interpretive materials, the City and the public will lose the benefit of the existing, historically-grounded interpretation... That harm cannot be adequately remedied after the fact."

The National Park Service began removing some of the exhibit in January, following an executive order that called for historic sites to not display information that disparages Americans, past or living. The City of Philadelphia sued the federal government for doing so.

Since then, there has been back and forth between both parties as parts of the exhibit remain empty.

On Tuesday evening, Action News spoke with Frank Scaturro, who is visiting Philadelphia from Ohio.

He said, "I'm very much interested in full context, so it's important to tell this aspect of the story - about the role that was played by enslaved people and what they had to go through."

"But I would like to see more. There is a marked absence, or very little, of Washington and Adams themselves and their presidencies," he added.

Action News also spoke with Edward and Melinda Mitchell, who are visiting from Ohio.

Edward said, "You can't erase history by removing pictures."

"It doesn't make sense to me. It just does not make sense," Melinda added. "Hopefully they'll put them back."

Now, the city waits for the next steps in this legal battle.

Michael Coard, with the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, said he believes both parties are now in a 'holding pattern.'

He also said his organization is ready to take legal action, if necessary, to preserve the panels.

"We're prepared to do whatever needs to be done. Anyone who thinks this is over has not been following this case," Coard said.