Aside from tanking the US economy, illegally deporting people without due process, abandoning 80-year-old global alliances, making America get measles again, slashing the federal government, and playing golf, Donald Trump has been on a rampage to whitewash our entire history and culture. He signed that asinine executive order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” to attack the Smithsonian and other museums for putting up exhibits that look critically at our past, he’s threatened schools with defunding if they don’t eliminate their DEI initiatives, and he even blamed the tragic plane crash over the Potomac on DEI, because reasons. He’s loudly trying to bully organizations to undo DEI, to varying degrees of capitulation. Which brings us to the National Park Service, who only just returned Harriet Tubman to their Underground Railroad webpage, after people noticed her picture and quote had been replaced by an image of commemorative stamps with the words “Black/White Cooperation,” along with a very sanitized summary of the railroad movement.

Until mid-February, the top of the NPS’ “What is the Underground Railroad?” page featured a large photo of Tubman, the railroad’s most famous “conductor,” records from the Wayback Machine show. Next to it was a quote from Tubman about her experience coordinating the clandestine network for slaves seeking freedom.

But sometime in February it was changed, swapping the large image of Tubman for small commemorative stamps of five abolitionists – among them Tubman – a screen grab from the webpage on March 19 captured by the Wayback Machine shows. Text on the stamps touted “Black/White Cooperation.” Tubman’s quote was removed and the text amended significantly in the updated version.

The Washington Post first reported on the change Sunday, which prompted backlash from historians and educators.

Asked about the restoration of Tubman’s image and quote to the page, an NPS spokesperson told CNN, “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.”

The edited version – without Tubman’s quote or image – had been live since at least February 21, the Wayback Machine shows.

The edited webpage featured revised text that did not mention slavery until the third paragraph and cut a reference to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 entirely. The edited article had swapped a description of enslaved peoples’ efforts to free themselves with two paragraphs that emphasized the “American ideals of liberty and freedom.”

The recent reduction of Tubman’s presence on the webpage, coming after several other prominent changes to government websites as the administration enacts a sweeping anti-DEI agenda, incurred criticism from some who said the change minimized Tubman’s crucial contributions to the Underground Railroad. The abolitionist is credited with helping free scores of enslaved people during the Civil War period.

One historian, Fergus Bordewich, had called the edits “both offensive and absurd” in an interview with CNN.

Before the page was reverted Monday afternoon, an NPS spokesperson defended the changes, telling CNN “the idea that a couple web edits somehow invalidate the National Park Service’s commitment to telling complex and challenging 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.”

The spokesperson highlighted the two national historical parks named for Tubman.

[From CNN]

So the National Park Service website celebrated Black History Month… by deleting Harriet Tubman from their Underground Railroad page?!? It’s all so pernicious. And stupid, the stupid always prevails with these guys. I mean, I don’t want to rag on the National Park Service, they’ve been decimated by Trump’s massive firings. So I’m hoping this was the work of a bad actor (or DOGE teen) infiltrating the system. Cause if you hear “underground railroad,” the very first thing that comes to mind is Harriet Tubman, right? So in addition to having a fabulous name, Fergus Bordewich is right when he says the revisions were “both offensive and absurd.” Thank goodness for the Wayback Machine, and heaven help them if the Sauron’s eye of this administration sets its sights on them.

Oh, and this is the quote of Tubman’s that had been removed, and is now restored: “I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.” Damn straight she deserves to be front and center on that webpage!

Note by Celebitchy: Here are links to the original, whitewashed and restored versions of that page.
Original Page, Wayback Machine Dated February 11, 2025
Whitewashed Page, Wayback Machine Dated February 21, 2025
Restored Page, currently at NPS.Gov

Original/Restored page (link)

Whitewashed page, captured on February 21, 2025 (link)