The National Park Service restored an image of Harriet Tubman and a quote from her on a webpage about the Underground Railroad on Monday. The move came after backlash over reports that the page had reduced the emphasis on the prolific abolitionist to highlight other abolitionists, including two white people, with images touting phrases like “Black, white, cooperation, trusts, and danger.”
The changes diminishing Tubman’s contributions were first reported by The Washington Post on April 6. The publication noted that the government replaced a large portrait of Tubman as well as a quote at the top of the page where Tubman described herself as “the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years.” Prior to April 7, the opening lines of the page no longer mentioned slavery but called the Underground Railroad “one of the most significant expressions of the American civil rights movement,” and said that the network “bridged the divides of race.” According to CNN, those changes dated back to at least Feb. 21.
When asked about the emphasis on Tubman being brought back to the page, an NPS spokesperson told the network that “Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Service’s website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership. The webpage was immediately restored to its original content.”
However, before the page was restored Monday afternoon, an NPS spokesperson defended the changes to CNN, telling them that “the idea that a couple web edits somehow invalidate the National Park Service’s commitment to telling complex and challenging historical narratives is completely false and belies the extensive websites, social media posts, and programs we offer about Harriet Tubman specifically and Black History as a whole.” They noted that there are two national historical parks named for Tubman, saying, “The National Park Service recognizes Harriet Tubman as the Underground Railroad’s best known conductor and we celebrate her as a deeply spiritual woman who lived her ideals and dedicated her life to freedom.”
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According to the Post, since Donald Trump returned to office, dozens of government-owned webpages have “softened descriptions of some of the most shameful moments of the nation’s past,” including erasing or editing references to slavery and Jim Crow-era segregation.
High-ranking political appointees at the Interior Department, which manages the Park Service, have directed staff to identify webpages that the administration might take issue with, according to anonymous sources who spoke to the newspaper.
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