Montco Joins Lawsuit To Combat Removal Of Slavery Exhibits In Philly

NORRISTOWN, PA — Montgomery County has joined a lawsuit in support of an effort to restore slavery exhibits at the President's House historical site in Old City Philadelphia. President Trump issued an executive order late last month to remove mentions of slavery from the site, which is run by the U.S. National Park Service.

Montgomery County joins Bucks, Chester, and Delaware counties in support of Philadelphia in a joint amicus brief, an effort to apply broader pressure to what has been described as an "erasure of history."

“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," Montgomery County Commissioner Jamila Winder said in a statement. "We must stand firm on our convictions that our history makes us stronger, better, and braver."

The President's House, located at 6th and Market, is where Presidents George Washington and John Adams lived during their terms, while Philadelphia was the nation's capital.

The exhibits at the site detail the history of the executive mansion, but also detail the nine story of the nine slaves kept by Washington at the home. The removal of that history by Trump's order is the latest step in a broad cultural war that sought to sunder America along class and racial lines.

Law firm Ballard Spahr LLP is representing the counties on a pro bono basis.

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

The move has raised fears over what else the Trump administration may target through their control of the National Park Service. Federally owned properties represent a key way the adminstration can exert influence in the Democrat-controlled city.