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The President's House Memorial Opens Today

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - After almost a decade of public debate and sometimes heated argument, the President's House memorial site opens on Independence Mall.

It will be a simple ribbon cutting ceremony, no President Barack Obama or other national dignitaries, to open one of the nation's most anticipated and controversial memorials to slavery and freedom. It's not a reconstruction, but a stylized footprint that will be open to the public 24/7, its centerpiece the glass enclosure containing the remains of the house.  

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A glass enclosure at the President's House holds original remains.

Chief Archaeologist Jed Levin says, "Those are the walls that contain the lives of Washington, Adams, their families, the enslaved Africans, their families, the people who lived and worked here.  They're an artifact in themselves -- a very valuable one -- that really connects us with those people."

The President's House memorial site is believed to be the first federal commemoration to enslaved Africans.

Reported by Karin Phillips, KYW Newsradio

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