04/07/2025

National Park Service Removes References to Harriet Tubman from ‘Underground Railroad’ Webpage

The action is an attack on American history

An image of and quote from Harriet Tubman have been removed from a National Parks webpage about the “Underground Railroad,” following several prominent changes to government websites under the Trump administration.

The National Parks Service webpage for the “Underground Railroad” used to lead with a quote from Tubman, the railroad’s most famous “conductor”, a comparison on the Wayback Machine between the webpage on Jan. 21 and March 19 shows. Both the quote and an image of Tubman have since been removed, along with several references to “enslaved” people and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

The Washington Post first reported on the changes. The webpage now leads with commemorative stamps of various civil rights leaders with text including the phrase “Black/White Cooperation.” Whereas previously, the article started with a description of enslaved peoples’ efforts to free themselves and the organization of the Underground Railroad after the Fugitive Slave Act, the article now starts with two paragraphs that emphasize the “American ideals of liberty and freedom” and do not specifically mention slavery. Tubman’s removal from the “Underground Railroad” page “is both offensive and absurd,” Fergus Bordewich, a historian and the author of a book about the Underground Railroad, told CNN Sunday. He described the new webpage as “diminished in value by its brevity.”

Please select this link to read the complete article from CNN.