The National Parks Service has removed an image and a quote from Harriet Tubman on its “Underground Railroad” webpage, part of a series of changes to government sites under the Trump administration. Previously, the page featured Tubman’s quote prominently, along with an image of her, but both have been deleted. References to “enslaved” people and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 were also removed.
Instead, the updated page now begins with commemorative stamps of civil rights leaders and highlights “Black/White Cooperation,” shifting the focus away from the history of slavery and the Underground Railroad’s role in helping enslaved people seek freedom. The revised introduction emphasizes “American ideals of liberty and freedom,” omitting specific mentions of slavery.
Historians and scholars have criticized the changes. Fergus Bordewich, a historian and author of a book about the Underground Railroad, called the edits “offensive and absurd,” stressing that simplifying history distorts it. “Americans are not infants: they can handle complex and challenging historical narratives,” he said.
Janell Hobson, a women’s studies professor at the University at Albany, also expressed concern, describing Tubman as “one of our greatest American heroes and definitely the greatest liberator in this nation.” She urged the National Parks Service to honor Tubman’s legacy by presenting history truthfully.
While Tubman’s image and quote were removed from the Underground Railroad page, her own dedicated National Park Service page remains unchanged. It details her life, from being born into slavery in Maryland to becoming a key figure in the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved people escape to freedom.
These changes are part of a broader trend under the Trump administration, which has been criticized for removing or altering content related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Similar controversies have occurred with the removal of references to LGBTQ+ identities from a National Parks Service page about the Stonewall Monument and the temporary deletion of a Pentagon page about Jackie Robinson, the first Black Major League Baseball player in the modern era.
The administration’s actions also extend to cultural and historical institutions, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian Institution, where exhibits and language deemed inappropriate by the administration have been targeted.