US judge tells National Park Service to reinstall Philadelphia slavery exhibit

By Chris Prentice

NEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge in Pennsylvania on Monday ordered the National Park Service to reinstall a slavery exhibit at a Philadelphia historic site, pending the outcome of ongoing litigation after the city sued the federal government over its removal.

The National Park Service last month dismantled and removed the exhibit in response to President Donald Trump's claims, which have been rejected by civil rights groups, of an "anti-American ideology" at historical and cultural institutions.

The city of Philadelphia sued over the matter, accusing the Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, and top officials of breaking the law and asking a judge to restore the exhibit.

On Monday, a federal judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted the city's request to temporarily block the federal government's changes and ordered the National Park Service to restore the exhibit pending the outcome of litigation.

The "Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims—to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts," Judge Cynthia Rufe said in her opinion. "It does not."

Neither the National Park Service nor the city of Philadelphia responded immediately to requests for comment on the judge's order.

The exhibit was at the President's House Site in Independence National Historical Park, where the first U.S. president, George Washington, lived when the Pennsylvania city was the nation's capital. The President's House described the history of slavery and Washington's ownership of enslaved people.

Civil rights groups have accused the Trump administration of rolling back social progress.