CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE

On Jan. 27, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro filed an amicus brief in support of the City of Philadelphia’s lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to remove a historical exhibit on slavery from the President’s House Site at Independence National Historical Park – “an action that both whitewashes American history and disregards long-standing collaboration with local government,” according to a press release.

The press release further details the challenge as follows:

“The removed exhibit detailed the lives of nine people enslaved by George Washington while he lived in Philadelphia and has been displayed for more than two decades as part of the site’s purpose to tell the full history of the nation’s founding.”

The City of Philadelphia filed suit earlier in January, citing a long-standing cooperative agreement that governs changes to the site and requires coordination with the city before exhibits are altered or removed.

According to the press release, Shapiro filed the brief “to support Philadelphia’s legal challenge, defend the integrity of shared governance at nationally significant historic sites and reaffirm the Commonwealth’s commitment to preserving accurate, inclusive history.

“Donald Trump will take any opportunity to rewrite and whitewash our history – but he picked the wrong city and the wrong Commonwealth,” Shapiro said in the release.

“In Pennsylvania, we learn from our history, even when it’s painful. We don’t erase it or pretend it didn’t happen.

“Because when we know where we’ve been, we can chart a better course for the future. Those displays aren’t just signs – they represent our shared history, and if we want to move forward as a nation, we have to be willing to tell the full story of where we came from.”

Shapiro has criticized the U.S. Department of the Interior’s decision for bypassing local government and erasing key parts of American history, “warning that the federal government’s actions undermine public education, distort the full story of the nation’s founding and ignore legal obligations to state and local governments.”

Shapiro has also noted the importance of confronting history honestly, particularly as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary.

By filing this amicus brief, Shapiro is continuing efforts to stand up for Pennsylvania communities, protect local authority and ensure history is preserved.

Shapiro has been working aggressively to see the federal government honors its legal obligations.

Court challenges to multiple federal actions include “securing continued SNAP benefits for millions of Pennsylvanians, unfreezing billions in critical federal funding, stopping the unlawful decision to cut AmeriCorps programs across the Commonwealth, restoring over $230 million for school districts, blocking the Trump Administration from seizing the private medical records of patients at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and forcing the release of more than $500 million in public health grants,” according to the press release.

“Courts have repeatedly ruled in Pennsylvania’s favor, blocking attempts to cancel or withhold previously awarded federal funding across key areas like education, public health, infrastructure and environmental protection,” the press release notes.