Slavery exhibit returned to Philadelphia’s Independence Mall

Workers have begun restoring the slavery exhibit on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate it.

The restoration comes a day before the court-imposed deadline to reinstall the exhibit, which was removed in January following an executive order by President Trump titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”

U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe, a President George W. Bush appointee, said the administration’s reasoning for removing the slavery exhibit is equivalent to George Orwell’s “1984” Ministry of Truth, which revised historical records to fit its own narrative.

The exhibition displays panels detailing the lives of nine people enslaved by George Washington and is featured​ at the President’s House on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker personally thanked National Park employees for reinstating the exhibit.

Proponents for recognizing the presence of slavery during America’s founding applauded the return of the exhibit, which will get heightened attention during this year’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Onlookers clapped and took photos of the newly reinstalled panels.

A visitor from the District of Columbia, who came to the exhibit with her daughter, told WHYY News, “This is the American people fighting back and saying, ‘We will not accept this. ​[We​] will not allow history to be rewritten.”