Shapiro sues Trump Admin for removal of slavery exhibit

Just hours after former Pennsylvania Attorney General Shapiro filed the brief, Trump made a Truth Social post endorsing Shapiro's sole gubernatorial race opponent, Treasurer Stacy Garrity.

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 20 years as part of the site’s purpose to tell the full history of the nation’s founding.

The City of Philadelphia filed suit last week, citing a longstanding cooperative agreement that governs changes to the site and requires coordination with the City before exhibits are altered or removed.

Governor 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,” said Governor Shapiro. “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.”

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

Governor Shapiro has successfully challenged multiple federal actions in court — 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 (CHOP), and forcing the release of more than $500 million in public health grants. 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.