Bucks Joins Regional Lawsuit Seeking To Restore Slavery Exhibit

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Bucks County joined its neighbors in Montgomery, Chester and Delaware counties this week in filing an amicus brief in support of the City of Philadelphia’s court filings seeking to restore a slavery exhibit at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia, which the U.S. National Park Service recently removed.

The legal filing by the colar counties surrounding the city describes their proximity to and shared history with Philadelphia, their connections to the nation’s founding, and the importance of maintaining honest and inclusive representation of history at nationally significant sites, particularly in the year of America’s 250th anniversary.

The President’s House, at 6th and Market Streets, marks the site of the nation’s executive mansion in the late 1700s, where Presidents Washington and Adams both lived and worked, along with their households.

“Attempts to erase evidence of our history do not heal the stains of the past – quite the opposite, they make us weak and vulnerable to repeating our failures,” said Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia, Chair of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners in announcing the regional suit. “In Bucks County, with our place in American history firmly rooted, we resist temptation for self-delusion and instead confront our faults head on, resolving always to do better tomorrow than we did yesterday. Only then can we achieve our country’s founding vision of equality for all people.”

The outdoor exhibit, "Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation,” documented the business of slavery and the lives of nine enslaved people owned by President George Washington. The exhibit was taken down by the federal government under a "Restoring Truth And Sanity To American History" executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

After the series of panels were taken down by employees of the National Park Service, the City of Philadelphia filed suit to restore the exhibit.

“We are proud to stand with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and the leaders of the other collar counties to say no to the erasure of our history," said Jamila H. Winder, chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. "Instead of white-washing our history, we should be taking action to ensure that all members of our community, no matter their backgrounds, can live the American Dream. We must stand firm on our convictions that our history makes us stronger, better, and braver.”

The law firm Ballard Spahr LLP is representing the counties in the lawsuit on a pro bono basis.

“Attempts to erase and rewrite a nation’s history is a threat to democracy and cannot go unchecked,” said Ballard Spahr’s Philadelphia Managing Partner Marcel Pratt, who previously served as Philadelphia City Solicitor. “A society that edits its history, instead of continuing to learn from it, is bound to repeat its worst mistakes.”

“We will not stand by as the federal government attempts to rewrite history by breaking the law,” said Commissioner Josh Maxwell, chair of the Chester County Board of Commissioners. “Chester County was an important part of the Underground Railroad, home to the nation’s first historically Black College and University (HBCU), and the birthplace of civil rights leaders. In filing an amicus brief, we continue our commitment to acknowledging the abhorrent legacy of slavery and working to remedy it.”