PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The slavery exhibits on Independence Mall have been removed from the President’s House. Videos online show members of the National Park Service removing plaques on Thursday afternoon.
The removal has brought outrage from community members and local elected officials.
In a statement, Congressman Brendan Boyle blamed the Trump Administration for the plaque removals.
“This is absolutely unacceptable,” he said. “I am proud of our country and the ideals on which it was founded, and telling the full truth about our history, both the good and the bad, is essential to preserving those ideals.”
He went on to say that the National Park Service faces budget cuts ahead of the nation’s 250th celebration — a lot of which will center on Philadelphia — and the administration “should be strengthening these historic sites, not censoring them to erase the past.”
“Philadelphia and the entire country deserve an honest accounting of our history, and this effort to hide it is wrong,” Boyle said.
Last spring, President Donald Trump ordered a review of National Park displays that “inappropriately disparage” the U.S. for their potential removal. The plaques at the President’s House were thought to be an eventual target, but weren’t touched until Thursday afternoon.
The National Park Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior have not responded to KYW Newsradio requests for comment.
The National Park Service web page for Independence Hall displays an alert that says it will be closed until Jan. 28 for preservation projects in preparation for the semiquincentennial celebrations.