Opening of President's House pushed back (Philadelphia)
The opening of the President's House on Independence Mall will be pushed back to next fall, to allow further revision of interpretive materials so that they better portray the place of slavery in the nation's early days.
The announcement came from Mayor Nutter's administration, which is managing the $8.5 million project, and Independence National Historical Park, which ultimately will run the site.
The house had been scheduled for a July 4, 2010, grand opening, and it was hoped that President Obama would attend. The nation's first African American president will be invited to the rescheduled opening, said Rosalyn J. McPherson, project director.
The delay, announced late Wednesday, was not entirely unexpected. The site's explanatory displays have been the grist of controversy over how to balance describing the home of Presidents George Washington and John Adams, the little-known stories of the nine slaves who toiled there, and the reality that few Americans even knew that there had been slaves in the nation's first executive mansion until the site was excavated in recent years.
Read entire article at Philadelphia Inquirer
The announcement came from Mayor Nutter's administration, which is managing the $8.5 million project, and Independence National Historical Park, which ultimately will run the site.
The house had been scheduled for a July 4, 2010, grand opening, and it was hoped that President Obama would attend. The nation's first African American president will be invited to the rescheduled opening, said Rosalyn J. McPherson, project director.
The delay, announced late Wednesday, was not entirely unexpected. The site's explanatory displays have been the grist of controversy over how to balance describing the home of Presidents George Washington and John Adams, the little-known stories of the nine slaves who toiled there, and the reality that few Americans even knew that there had been slaves in the nation's first executive mansion until the site was excavated in recent years.