DISTORTING HISTORY

Trump Admin Reverses Harriet Tubman Website Change After Furious Backlash

Tubman’s contributions to the Underground Railroad were scrubbed in February as part of an anti-DEI purge.

The National Park Service (NPS) has restored an image and quote of Harriet Tubman to its Underground Railroad webpage after facing harsh criticism for reducing her prominence during a government purge of “DEI” narratives. Until mid-February, the NPS page featured a large photo of Tubman—the Underground Railroad’s most famous conductor—alongside a quote in which she described her experiences co-ordinating the secret network for slaves seeking freedom. However, following an executive order from President Donald Trump to scrub the Smithsonian archive of “divisive narratives” her image was removed from the webpage and replaced with small stamps of five abolitionists which highlighted “Black/White co-operation” within the anti-slavery movement. Tubman’s quote was also removed, and the heavily revised text also downplayed slavery, delaying its mention until the third paragraph and omitting any mention of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The Washington Post first reported the alterations on Sunday, sparking backlash from historians who called the edits “offensive and absurd,” CNN reports. An NPS spokesperson initially defended the changes but later confirmed the page was “immediately restored” after leadership intervened. Tubman, born into slavery, escaped and later helped free dozens through the Underground Railroad. The NPS has been required by federal law to produce educational materials about the Railroad since 1998, and historians argue that the extensive changes made to the materials risks distorting a pivotal moment in history.