Trump Admin’s Harriet Tubman Website Change Sparks Furious Backlash

In a stunning rollback of historical truth, the National Park Service (NPS) quietly removed Harriet Tubman’s photo and quote from its Underground Railroad webpage—part of a broader effort under former President Donald Trump to sanitize America’s past by eliminating so-called “divisive narratives.”

The erasure, which went unnoticed until recently, was first reported by The Washington Post. The backlash was swift and fierce.

“This wasn’t just editing—it was erasure,” said Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar, a historian at Rutgers University. “To remove Harriet Tubman is to rewrite the story of resistance and courage that defines the Underground Railroad.”

From Centerpiece to Afterthought

Until mid-February, the NPS webpage prominently displayed a large photo of Tubman—the Underground Railroad’s most iconic conductor—alongside a quote recounting her perilous work helping enslaved people flee to freedom.

But following a Trump-era executive order targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in federal institutions, Tubman was scrubbed from the page. In her place: a sanitized collage of small abolitionist stamps emphasizing “Black/White cooperation” over the harsh realities of slavery.

The word “slavery” itself didn’t appear until the third paragraph of the newly revised version. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850—a critical piece of legislation that made life exponentially more dangerous for runaways and those who helped them—was removed entirely.

“It’s offensive and absurd,” said one historian quoted by CNN. “You can’t tell the story of the Underground Railroad without centering Harriet Tubman and the brutality she fought against.”

Reversal Under Pressure

Initially, an NPS spokesperson defended the changes as “a refreshed perspective on collaboration,” but after public outcry and media scrutiny, the agency reversed course.

“After internal review and feedback from leadership, the page has been immediately restored to its previous format,” the spokesperson later confirmed.

A Pattern of Revisionism

The edits stem from a 2020 Trump executive order that demanded federal agencies remove references to “critical race theory” and other content deemed “divisive.” That order, which also targeted the Smithsonian and the military, was widely criticized by educators and civil rights advocates as a direct assault on truth-telling in American history.

Though President Biden rescinded the order in his first days in office, the long shadow of Trump’s legacy continues to surface in ways like this—quietly, but with significant consequences.

Why It Matters

Harriet Tubman wasn’t just a historical figure. She was a revolutionary. Born into slavery in 1822, she escaped in her twenties and returned to the South at least 13 times to rescue more than 70 enslaved people. Her courage, strategy, and sheer defiance made her a symbol of resistance—and a target for those looking to rewrite America’s past.

Since 1998, the NPS has been federally mandated to create educational materials on the Underground Railroad. But historians warn that politically motivated edits threaten the integrity of that mission.

“This isn’t just about one webpage,” said Dr. Dunbar. “It’s about who we choose to remember—and who we choose to forget.”