An appeals court on Friday ruled that the Trump administration can reinstall educational panels on George Washington's home in Philadelphia that replace other panels that focused more on America's history of slavery, rather than its accomplishments. 

The Trump administration's panels replaced ones that went up in 2010, which told the story of how nine slaves lived at the home with George and Martha Washington in the 1790s, the Associated Press reported. At the time, Philadelphia was the U.S. capital. 

In 2025, Trump signed an executive order directing federally owned historic sites not to display information that would “disparage Americans past or living” but rather highlight the “greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.”

Academics and other critics were concerned the change wouldn't focus heavily enough on America's sins in the past in favor of a perspective that focuses too much on America's qualities. 

The Trump administration panels still have information on enslaved people living in the household, as well as details on the abolitionist movement, how the Constitution treated slavery, and other historical information about the practice. However, the panels remove some details, such as a map of the slave trade route and a timeline on slavery. They also removed titles like "The Dirty Business of Slavery.”

Friday's ruling was a technical one that allows the implementation of a ruling last month. In that ruling, the appeals court said a lower court was wrong to order the federal government to take down the new panels.