| Washington, DC – The American Historical Association (AHA) has filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the City of Philadelphia’s lawsuit challenging the removal of the Freedom and Slavery Exhibit at Independence National Historical Park. The AHA’s brief provides historical and professional context for the case, which argues that the National Park Service’s actions undermine the historical integrity of the site. The exhibit, which was peer reviewed and had been previously approved by the NPS, documented the lives of enslaved people at the President’s House. Its removal narrows public understanding of the nation’s founding and obscures the history of slavery in the early United States. The brief situates the exhibit’s removal within broader federal actions following Executive Order No. 14253, which directed the Department of the Interior to remove certain interpretive content from sites under its jurisdiction. In response, the National Park Service has removed or altered interpretive materials at multiple locations, including those addressing African American, Indigenous, gender, and environmental history. “The removal of the Freedom and Slavery Exhibit undermines the longstanding mission of the Park Service at one of its most visited historical sites,” reads the brief. “Denying … historical facts and removing educational displays and exhibits about them is contrary to the Park Service’s mission and the public interest and causes irreparable harm to the City of Philadelphia.” The brief was filed by Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) and Ballard Spahr LLP on behalf of the AHA. The amicus brief is available to read on the AHA website.
_____________________________________________________________________________ Founded in 1884 and incorporated by Congress in 1889 for the promotion of historical studies, the American Historical Association provides leadership for the discipline and promotes the critical role of historical thinking in public life. The association defends academic freedom, develops professional standards, supports innovative scholarship and teaching, and helps to sustain and enhance the work of historians. As the largest membership association of professional historians in the world (over 10,000 members), the AHA serves historians in a wide variety of professions and represents every historical era and geographical area. Learn more at historians.org. | 
