The Underground Railroad without slaves

The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act mandates the park service to identify, preserve and promote sites connected to the historic Underground Railroad. The park service officially designated the President’s House site as a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site in 2022, a tribute to Oney Judge, who successfully escaped from Washington’s enslavement.

Judge Thomas Hardiman asked in den Berken whether or not the federal government was violating its responsibilities under that law.

“If you’re going to have a site designated as an Underground Railroad site, how could it possibly comply with federal law if it had no mention of slavery?” Hardiman asked the administration.

In den Berken responded that there are few requirements under that act.

“After such designation, there is no particular provision in the statute that says, ‘And this must be displayed at the site and this must remain there,’” he said.

In den Berken also told the court that the changes at the site did not erase history and that the government’s plan was merely to “emphasize or discuss the life of President George Washington and John Adams during their time at the President’s House without discussing slavery.”

“There was no assertion or statement by the federal government that these facts were false, never happened, anything like that,” in den Berken said. “It was a curatorial decision.”

However, Taylor responded that the location of the site made telling the story of those Washington had enslaved at the site that much more consequential.

“The President’s House is at the doorway to the Liberty Bell,” she said. “That history is not being told to all the people who are expected to come here.”

Republicans join the fight

The fight for the exhibit has become a bipartisan effort with U.S. Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., joining the call for the site’s restoration. During a conference call with the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, regional director Nate Gerace said the senator was closely watching how the story unfolds.

“Our history is our history and what makes America exceptional is our willingness to confront our history honestly, and learn from both the triumphs and the failures and keep working toward a more perfect union,” Gerace said. “We’ve taken a consistent position on similar issues, such as efforts to rename military bases like Fort Bragg or remove statues like those of William Penn and Christopher Columbus.”

Famed local attorney George Bochetto, who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022 as a Republican, was also on the call. Bochetto came to prominence after successfully defending the Columbus statue at Marconi Plaza after the city tried to take it down in 2021.

“Some of us Republicans have faced the struggle and have faced the difficulties and we understand what it is to struggle and to fight,” Bochetto told the people on the call, adding he was “happy to be aligned” with Michael Coard, a co-founder of the coalition. “I don’t always agree with him, but I always agree that he does a magnificent job for the cause.”