Mayor Cherelle L. Parker
@PhillyMayor
Good afternoon, Philadelphia.
I want to talk with you about an important Federal court ruling released today on the City’s lawsuit involving the President’s House exhibit on Independence Mall.
The United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that the City won in February, which ordered the Federal government to reinstall a series of interpretative panels at the President’s House that told the powerful history of how 9 enslaved individuals were held in slavery in the executive residence by President Washington.
Today, the Third Circuit Court ruled against the City, and ruled that the Federal government had the legal right to determine what panels were installed at the President’s House.
Philadelphia, hear me on this: I will pursue every legal action possible to reverse this decision. We cannot and WILL not rest until the full story of American history – including the existence of Slavery at the President’s House here in Philadelphia – is told, for our Nation and the World to see.
I will continue this fight, along with the allies who have been involved with the President’s House from the beginning, including the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition, led by Michael Coard, The Black Journey, and other citizens who feel passionately that there is only one way to tell American history…
To tell the truth.
02:29
9:40 PM · Jun 18, 2026
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