U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D, Philadelphia) announced legislation Friday that would permanently restore all exhibits to the President’s House site that were removed by the Trump administration in January.
The proposed Protecting American History Act comes as the future of the President’s House, which memorializes the nine people George Washington enslaved in Philadelphia, remains in limbo as a legal battle between the City of Philadelphia and the federal government continues to play out.
“It is only dictatorships and communist countries that whitewash their history and give an official version, rather than the accurate version,” Boyle said during a news conference Friday. “Frankly, the most American thing in the world is to discuss and debate our nation’s history. It improves who we are as a people and where we’re going.”
The National Park Service last month removed educational panels from the site under President Donald Trump’s executive order forbidding displays at national parks that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
Some of that material was restored last week after a judge ruled in favor of the city, but those efforts were paused by a federal appeals judge while considering the Trump administration’s motion for a stay. The appeal of the lower federal court’s injunction that ordered them to restore the displays is also underway.
“Court decisions alone are not enough… History should not depend on the whims of one federal judge. This issue is bigger than just one exhibit, as important as it is. This is about the history of our entire nation and our people,” Boyle told reporters Friday at the Independence Visitor Center.
With Independence Hall towering behind him, Boyle said the bill calls for restoring all historical exhibits at the park, including the President’s House, to its status on Jan. 21, the day before the displays were taken down. It will also shield all historical displays at Independence National Historical Park, which Boyle’s district includes, from any future government censorship.
The President’s House opened in 2010 after years of advocacy by local Black leaders. It juxtaposes the cruelty of slavery against the nation’s founding ideals.
U.S. Reps. Dwight Evans and Mary Gay Scanlon, who also represent parts of Philadelphia, are the lead cosponsors on the legislation.
The Democrats also joined Boyle last month in writing to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron seeking answers about the President’s House by Jan. 30. As of Friday, the Trump administration officials had yet to respond, Boyle said.
Boyle said that he has discussed this bill with Republican colleagues in the House and they have expressed support, but it’s uncertain whether those lawmakers will publicly support his bill or whether it’ll receive a vote in the GOP-controlled chamber.
In addition to lawmakers, Boyle’s bill is supported by Rev. Beth Hessel, executive director of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, a historic membership library, and Sean Connolly, executive director of Arch Street Meeting House, a Quaker historical site.
Hessel and Connolly are two of the many Philadelphians who have joined the growing community activism to help preserve the story of the President’s House.
The legislation focuses solely on Philadelphia, but the hope is, Boyle said, that it can serve as a model for other lawmakers throughout the country as the Trump administration attempts to rewrite history ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Other historic sites and national parks have also had educational material removed in recent weeks, including the Grand Canyon, where the National Park Service took down signage about the mistreatment of Native Americans.
Boyle said the present day is almost a full-circle moment from the country’s founding, comparing Trump to King George III.
“Almost exactly 250 years ago, our founders were dealing with an out of control, dictatorial ‘Mad King.’ They opted on the side of honesty and truth and idealism… it is toward that more perfect union you still strive today.”
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