The US National Park Service has removed a slavery exhibit from a historic site in Philadelphia, following directives tied to President Donald Trump’s claims of “anti-American ideology” at historical and cultural institutions, says Reuters on Friday.
The news agency also stated that civil rights groups have rejected the president’s claims.
The exhibit was located at the President’s House Site in Independence National Historical Park, where George Washington lived when Philadelphia was the nation’s capital.
It described the history of slavery and Washington’s ownership of enslaved people.
Media footage and activists reported that the outdoor exhibit was dismantled and removed on Thursday.
“The President has directed federal agencies to review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values,” the Interior Department, which oversees the park service, told Reuters in a statement responding to a query on the exhibit’s removal.
“Following completion of the required review, the National Park Service is now taking action to remove or revise interpretive materials in accordance with the Order.”
Late Thursday, the President’s House website still stated that its “outdoor exhibits examine the paradox between slavery and freedom in the new nation.”
Trump alarmed civil rights advocates last year with an executive order stating he was fighting against “a false revision of history.”
He has criticized what he casts as excessive focus on “how bad Slavery was.”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, responded to a video of the dismantling posted by the Philadelphia Inquirer, saying, “Trump will take any opportunity to rewrite and whitewash our history.”
Civil rights groups have said the Trump administration is rolling back social progress and undermining acknowledgment of critical phases of American history.
They have also criticised the administration over immigration crackdowns, assaults on diversity initiatives, a funding freeze on universities over pro-Palestinian protests, and attacks on cultural institutions for focusing on slavery.
The nation’s largest civil rights organisation said this month that Trump was being deceptive when he claimed civil rights policies hurt white people.
