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Judge Rules Slave Exhibit to Return in Philly

A federal judge ruled an exhibit about nine people enslaved by George Washington must be put back up at his former home in Philadelphia. The ruling came Monday by U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe after President Donald…

Sandra Rhodes·Feb 17, 2026·2 min read

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A federal judge ruled an exhibit about nine people enslaved by George Washington must be put back up at his former home in Philadelphia.

The ruling came Monday by U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe after President Donald Trump’s administration removed it in January, the Associated Press reported.

The city of Philadelphia sued after the National Park Service removed the panels from Independence National Historical Park. This was the site where George and Martha Washington lived with nine of their slaves in the 1790s, a time when Philadelphia was briefly the nation’s capital.

The removal was in response to a Trump executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history” at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks.

The executive order directed the Interior Department to ensure those sites do not display elements that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”

Rufe said all materials must be restored in their original condition while a lawsuit challenging the removal’s legality plays out.

She forbid Trump officials from putting up replacements that explain the history differently.

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Judge Rules Slave Exhibit to Return in Philly — IJR

Rufe, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, started her written order with a quote from George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984.” She likened the Trump administration to the book’s totalitarian regime called the Ministry of Truth, which revised historical records to align with its own narrative.

“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. “It does not.”

She warned Justice Department lawyers in January that they were making “dangerous” and “horrifying” statements when they said Trump officials can choose which parts of U.S. history to display at National Park Service sites.

The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. Government offices were closed for the federal holiday.

There was no timeline given for when the exhibit must be restored. Federal officials can appeal the ruling.