A federal judge has set a Friday, Feb. 20 deadline for the Trump administration to restore exhibitions on slavery it had removed from the President’s House in Philadelphia. The order comes as the administration appeals a previous ruling demanding they restore the exhibits and ensure they’re accessible to the public.
That decision was issued Monday, on President’s Day, by Pennsylvania Eastern District Court Judge Cynthia Rufe, a George W. Bush appointee, who invoked the dystopian novel 1984, about a fictional totalitarian government that rewrites history.
“As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto ‘Ignorance is Strength,’ this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims—to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts,” Rufe wrote in her opinion. “It does not.”
In January, National Park Service employees removed signage memorializing the slaves kept by George Washington at the first Presidential residence in Philadelphia during his two terms in office.
The administration said the move was to comply with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that called for the Interior Department to ensure national museums and parks don’t have exhibits that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times), and instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.”
The city of Philadelphia sued the U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, and their respective leaders, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron. They argued the move violated a 2006 agreement between the city and the federal government over stewardship of the President’s House.
Philadelphia and its historic sites related to the American Revolution are expected to see an influx of visitors this summer as America celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Source: PA Capital-Star