‘Diminishing the truth’: Court hearing begins over removal of slavery exhibit in Philly

Inside a federal courthouse on Friday, Jan. 30, the city of Philadelphia laid out its case to have the exhibit examining slavery at the President’s House restored to its original state before it was removed on Jan. 22.

City attorneys talked about a history of collaboration with the National Park Service, the money dedicated to keep the site up and running as well as the amount of public investment.

“Seventy-five years of collaboration went out the window without any notice,” attorneys said in the hearing.

Lawyers for the Department of the Interior said that the city and NPS entered into an agreement in 2006. They agreed to meet and talk about any changes before they were made to the exhibit at 6th and Market streets.

Those lawyers claim that the agreement ended in 2010 with full ownership transferred to the NPS after they finished the project.

They said that they believe this case is about government speech and the right to select the view it wants to express itself.

The city believes an original agreement in 1950 surrounding collaboration with NPS supersedes all of this.

“I’m really worried about the state of America if you send lawyers into a courtroom to make the argument the president can do whatever damn well he pleases, frightening concept,” Michael Coard, of the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, told NBC10.

Without notice last Thursday, workers with NPS tore down slavery panels documenting the lives of slaves held by George Washington.

“You’re diminishing the truth,” Former Chief of Staff for Mayor Michael Nutter, Everett Gillison, said. “We can’t go back to selective history. We got to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

In court documents, NBC10 learned that it took about two and a half hours to do the work and the exhibit materials are being stored in the National Constitution Center for now.

The judge overseeing the case said that she wants to move fairly quickly on making a decision. She plans to inspect the slavery panels and the site by Monday.

“Some material may be edited or replaced to provide broader context, others may remain unchanged. Claims that parks are erasing history or replacing signs are inaccurate,” the Interior Department wrote in a statement to NBC10.

Lawyers for both sides did not give NBC10 a comment.