Slavery exhibit targeted by Trump faces uncertain future

Summary

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Podcast Summary:

Consider This from NPR
Episode: Slavery Exhibit Targeted by Trump Faces Uncertain Future
Date: June 14, 2026
Host: Adrian Florido (NPR)

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Overview

This episode explores the controversy surrounding the removal of a slavery-focused exhibit at the President’s House site in Philadelphia—where George Washington both lived and enslaved nine people during his presidency. Against the backdrop of America’s upcoming 250th birthday, the episode examines efforts to erase or restore such history and what’s at stake when uncomfortable truths are removed from public commemoration. Through voices of local activists, tour guides, and citizens, the narrative covers federal orders under President Trump, community reactions, and the ongoing fight for historical truth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Historical Context and Discovery (00:00–02:14)

• Setting: Philadelphia, heralded as the “birthplace of America,” is home to Independence Hall and the President’s House—residences steeped in early American history and the paradox of slavery.
• Discovery of Enslaved Individuals:
  • In the early 2000s, a historian found documentation that George and Martha Washington enslaved nine individuals in Philadelphia, a previously overlooked fact.
  • Quote:
    “Many of us knew that he enslaved, but not many knew that nine were held right here in Philadelphia.” — Michael Cord (01:43)

2. Creation and Significance of the Exhibit (01:48–02:27)

• Activism Rooted in Outrage:
  • Judge Michael Cord and others formed the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, pressing the National Park Service for a dedicated memorial.
  • The resulting exhibit (opened in 2010) became the first federal slave memorial of its kind.
  • Quote:
    “It was the grand opening of the first slave memorial of its kind on federal property in the history of the United States... We thought it would last forever. But 15 years later, the destruction came.” — Michael Cord (02:14)

3. Trump Administration Order and Exhibit Removal (02:27–03:09 and 05:44–09:50)

• Executive Order:

  • Titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” President Trump’s order demanded the removal of exhibits that “inappropriately disparage Americans.”
  • 34 interpretive panels about Washington’s enslaved workers were torn down at the President’s House.
  • Impact:
    • Activists like Michael Cord described feeling personally wounded by the removal.
    • Quote:
      “I felt like a part of my soul was being ripped out with each interpretive panel being ripped out, because this is my story.” — Michael Cord (02:51)

• Legal & Community Reaction:

  • A federal judge temporarily blocked the order, but the exhibit remains only partially restored.
  • The city of Philadelphia's own lawsuit led to partial restoration, yet much is missing ahead of major national celebrations.

4. Personal and Community Responses on the Ground (05:44–11:30)

• Guide’s Perspective—Raina Yancy:

  • Still emotionally affected: “I wasn't prepared for the full range of emotions that overcame me. I'm still upset. I'm still angry.” (06:08)

  • Sees the Black Journey tour as “stewards of this history,” committed to telling the stories even as official panels disappear (07:58).

  • Highlights irony and “hypocrisy” at the birthplace of independence being also a place of enslavement.

    • Quote:
      “I want them to understand that history of slavery in the United States is from the very beginning, from the very top. And I also want to tell the story of triumph… Ona Judge emancipated herself…” — Raina Yancy (07:19)

  • Uses creative ways to drive home the history, such as pointing out a painting with red dots to identify which Founders owned slaves (08:17).

• Public Resistance:

  • Visitors post anonymous, hand-written explanations in place of removed panels, which are regularly removed by officials and replaced by the public, reflecting ongoing contestation (10:34).
  • Quote:
    “Every day, people exercise their First Amendment rights and replace them.” — Raina Yancy (10:34)

• Personal Stake:

  • Nakia Stevenson reads aloud from the missing panels, expressing a determination to preserve her own history (10:58).
  • Michael Cord vows that the story will be told, regardless of government action:
    • Quote:
      “So either the federal government is going to tell the story or dammit we’ll tell the story.” — Michael Cord (11:23)
  • Organizing events around July 4th to ensure the truth of Black Americans’ historical experience is recounted during national celebrations.

5. Federal Perspective and Potential Changes (09:50–10:34)

• Interior Department Statement:
  • Asserts a commitment to “celebrating and acknowledging the full breadth of our nation’s history.”
  • Proposes new panels which critics say downplay the suffering of enslaved people, suggesting their lives in Philadelphia may have been better than those at Washington’s Virginia plantation.

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Notable Quotes and Moments

• “We thought it would last forever. But 15 years later, the destruction came.” — Michael Cord (02:14)
• “I wasn't prepared for the full range of emotions that overcame me. I’m still upset. I’m still angry.” — Raina Yancy (06:08)
• “‘I see the Black Journey as stewards of this history… I want to make sure that doesn't happen again.’” — Raina Yancy (07:58)
• “So either the federal government is going to tell the story or dammit we’ll tell the story.” — Michael Cord (11:23)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00 — Setting the scene: the President’s House, Philadelphia
• 01:12 — Names of Washington’s enslaved read aloud
• 02:14 — Commitment to historic truth; exhibit’s significance
• 02:27 — Trump executive order and exhibit removal
• 03:09 — Nationwide impact; legal challenges
• 05:44 — Guide Raina Yancy’s response, ongoing tours
• 06:32–07:10 — Physical emptiness of the exhibit, importance of context
• 07:19–08:42 — Teaching historical paradox and resistance narratives
• 09:27–09:50 — Federal rationale for panel removals and public reaction
• 10:34 — Ongoing protest and civil response
• 11:23–11:30 — Activist vow to continue telling the story

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Tone and Takeaways

• The episode is deeply reflective, urgent, and at times raw, channeling the voices of those directly impacted by attempts to erase or distort history.
• The central message: Telling the full story of America—including its hardest truths—is essential for national understanding, commemoration, and progress.
• The community around the President’s House is committed to preserving and telling the stories that federal policy threatens to sideline, especially as America approaches a milestone anniversary.

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Transcript

[Adrian Florido]

It's consider this where every day we go deep on one big news story. We're just a few weeks away from celebrating the nation's 250th birthday. So I went to the city called the birthplace of America, Philadelphia. It was right here at Independence hall that the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of independence. In 1776, Philadelphia became the nation's first capital. George Washington, and its first president. He lived a block away. For decades and decades, people have come to these few old city blocks, all cobblestone and red brick, to steep themselves in this history of American freedom. But producer Henry Larson and I came because of a battle playing out right now over that history, specifically over whether the National Park Service, which runs these historic sites, should have to tell the stories of the black people who were part of it. We're standing here looking at this beautiful rear facade of Independence hall, and then you turn around, and just a few steps away is the house where George Washington, when he was president during those early years, lived. And not only where he lived, but where he enslaved nine people.

[Michael Cord]

Austin Paris, Hercules Christopher Shields, Richmond Giles Oney.

[Adrian Florido]

Judge Michael Cord is reading their names etched onto a wall at the site of Washington's house. Cord's a lawyer and an activist. And like many Philadelphians, he was stunned in the early 2000s when a local historian unearthed records that George and Martha Washington had brought nine slaves to work for them here.

[Michael Cord]

Many of us knew that he enslaved, but not many knew that nine were held right here in Philadelphia.

[Raina Yancy]

So.

[Michael Cord]

So I was enraged. I put together a group of local activists.

[Adrian Florido]

He called it the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition. It began pressing the Park Service to create an exhibit. It took years, but in 2010, it was finished. The house, long gone except for its foundations, was partially rebuilt. Panels and video screens along the walls told the stories of George Washington's nine enslaved workers.

[Michael Cord]

It was the grand opening of the first slave memorial of its kind on federal property in the history of the United States of America. We thought it would last forever. But 15 years later, the destruction came.

[Adrian Florido]

Last year, President Trump signed an executive order titled Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. It ordered national parks and historic sites to remove any exhibit or display that inappropriately disparages Americans past or living. A few months later, federal workers showed up at the slavery exhibit here at the President's house with crowbars.

[Michael Cord]

There were 34 interpretive panels to tell this whole story. They pulled all 34 down. I felt like a part of my soul was being ripped out with each interpretive panel being ripped out, because this is my story.

[Adrian Florido]

At national parks and historic sites across the US The Trump administration has for months been removing displays about slavery and other ugly chapters in US History. Trump's order said that telling history this way deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame. This week, a federal judge temporarily blocked the president's order, but it's not clear what that will mean for the slavery exhibit here in Philly, which has already been partially restored because of a separate lawsuit brought by the city of Philadelphia against the Secretary. U.S. department of Interior Consider this Just days before thousands of people are expected to stream into Philadelphia to celebrate the nation's 250th birthday, some of the exhibit at the president's house has been restored, but a lot is still missing. From npr, I'm adrian florida.

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[Adrian Florido]

It's Consider this from NPR in Philadelphia. A historic site meant to tell the stories of black people enslaved by George Washington is at the center of a battle over history. Five months ago, the Trump administration took down an exhibit at the site to get a sense of what the slavery exhibit's removal has meant. We met tour guide Raina Yancy at the House her shock hasn't gone away.

[Raina Yancy]

I wasn't prepared for the full range of motions that overcame me. I don't know. I'm still upset. I'm still angry.

[Adrian Florido]

Seven years ago, Yancy started a company called the Black Journey. She gives walking tours about Philadelphia's black history. Here at President Washington's house, she always tells the story of Ona Judge who ran away, escaped to freedom. Yancey gave me a bit of the tour.

[Raina Yancy]

So you have about 50% of the walls, as it would have had. We're walking to a wall that once held a panel, information about the dirty business of slavery. There are metal brackets of where the panels used to be secured to the wall.

[Adrian Florido]

We're looking at an empty wall now.

[Raina Yancy]

We're looking at an empty wall. It doesn't make sense without the context of. There are footprints that are supposed to represent Ona Judge's triumphant escape in the ground. They're bronze. They're beautiful. But it doesn't make sense without the story. What the significance of the names etched in granite, the footprints. It doesn't make sense.

[Adrian Florido]

When you're bringing people through this house, what is the story you're trying to tell them while you're standing right here where we're standing right now?

[Raina Yancy]

I want them to understand that history of slavery in the United States is from the very beginning, from the very top. And I also want to tell the story of triumph, that people stood up for themselves. In particular, Ona Judge, she emancipated herself. She was a young woman. She had no idea where she was going. She knew she would never see her family again.

[Adrian Florido]

Yancey tells me that after she learned the story of Judge's escape and the stories of the other eight enslaved workers, she felt an urge to tell as many people as possible. Did you ever consider, after those panels came down, not doing the tours?

[Raina Yancy]

No. I see the Black Journey as stewards of this history. And we saw how easily the history was previously lost for over a century, and I want to make sure that that doesn't happen again.

[Adrian Florido]

How do you grapple with this paradox of slavery in the shadow of independence,

[Raina Yancy]

of, I call it, hypocrisy. On the tour, we share a picture of the Founders. There's a famous oil painting, and it's supposed to depict the signing of the Declaration of Independence. And there are red dots on the faces of most of the founders. And I always ask the visitors, well, what do you think those red dots represent? And of course, it represents those that owned human beings.

[Adrian Florido]

When people are making that realization as you're telling them that story. What do you notice come across their faces?

[Raina Yancy]

Some people thought about it, but for some people, it's like the first time that that's clicked and they realize, oh, my, there are, like, so many levels of freedom right in this square block. And so we want to make sure that the panels tell the full story of slavery and how people did self emancipate. It was so intolerable to so many people, and people resisted in so many ways.

[Adrian Florido]

In his executive order, President Trump directed the Parks Department to remove exhibits that did not emphasize American greatness. What does that say to you?

[Raina Yancy]

I think Ona judge's story is a prime example of American greatness, of self emancipating herself to create her own life, her own story. And people need to understand it so that we don't go back. Just by taking the panels down, you can't make it disappear. You can't make that history go away.

[Adrian Florido]

We asked the Trump administration for an interview. The Interior Department sent us a statement saying the administration is committed to celebrating and acknowledging the full breadth of our nation's history. It also sent us a link to new exhibit panels it wants to replace the ones it removed. These new panels would tell some of the story of the people Washington enslaved at his Philadelphia house. But they also downplay their possible suffering, suggesting they had better lives than slaves at Washington's plantation in Virginia. As we walked through the house with Raina Yancy, we noticed something. All the little acts of public rebellion. On some of the walls, people had taped up handwritten explanations of why the exhibit was missing.

[Raina Yancy]

So the signs are removed by the Department of the Interior. Every day, these protest signs, there's facsimiles of what used to be there printed on 8 by 10 paper. But every day they're taken down in the evening, and every day, people exercise their First Amendment rights and replace them.

[Adrian Florido]

In front of another wall, a woman named Nakia Stevenson was reading aloud from a white binder.

[Raina Yancy]

1793, the Fugitive Slave Act.

[Adrian Florido]

She told me it was the text from the missing panels. Very passionate about history, and I am

[Raina Yancy]

obviously African American, so this is my

[Adrian Florido]

history that they're trying to erase. Michael Cord, the activist who fought to have this exhibit created, says it's urgent to get it back up before July 4th, when thousands of people will stream into Philadelphia.

[Michael Cord]

So either the federal government is going to tell the story or dammit will tell the story.

[Adrian Florido]

He's planning a number of events here to tell the story of black people's fight for freedom in the birthplace of American freedom. This episode was produced by Henry Larson. It was edited by Sarah Robbins. Our executive producer is Courtney Dorney. It's Consider this from npr. I'm Adrian Florido.

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