Following significant backlash, the National Park Service restored a previously-erased photo of Harriet Tubman from a webpage dedicated to the history of the Underground Railroad, in which she led 13 missions to rescue enslaved people.
A spokesperson said the changes were not authorized by the agency's leadership.
They stated:
“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.”
An image of the famous abolitionist and social activist, who was born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland, was removed following Republican President Donald Trump's being sworn in for a second White House term.
The webpage about the history of the Underground Railroad also showed controversial edits within the main body of the article, in which slavery wasn't mentioned until the third paragraph. It also deleted mention of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 entirely.
The updated article also described the Underground Railroad as “one of the most significant expressions of the American civil rights movement during its evolution over more than three centuries" and that the movement "bridged the divides of race, religion, sectional differences, and nationality."
Yahoo News noted that the Internet Archive site, Wayback Machine, featured a comparison showing the changes made to the webpage from January 21 and March 19.
The earlier image, featuring a large portrait of Tubman with one of her quotes, was swapped for a series of five commemorative stamps, including Tubman with William Still, Catherine Coffin, Thomas Garrett, and Frederick Douglass, all of whom aided enslaved people on a path towards freedom.
Each stamp touted "Black/White" cooperation.
People were enraged over the federal government agency reducing Tubman's presence on the site and for downplaying slavery history.
Fergus Bordewich, a historian and the author of a book about the Underground Railroad, condemned NPS's changes, calling them "both offensive and absurd."
Bordewich continued:
"To oversimplify history is to distort it. Americans are not infants: they can handle complex and challenging historical narratives. They do not need to be protected from the truth.”
Janell Hobson, a women’s studies professor at the University at Albany, State University of New York, described Tubman as “one of our greatest American heroes and definitely the greatest liberator in this nation."
She further stated in an email to CNN:
“I hope that National Park Service realize they owe it to her and other heroes like her to stand in the truth of what this history has been."
Here are some examples from the backlash on social media.
The changes on the webpage for NPS, first reported by the Washington Post, were one of many made to government websites after the Trump administration began eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were instituted by the previous administration led by former Democratic President Joe Biden.
The newspaper reported that many of the pages run by the National Park Service have been downplaying “some of the most shameful moments” in American history.
The Trump administration has continued aiming at other departments deemed as promoting DEI efforts.
Another National Park Service webpage about the Stonewall Monument in New York City removed the words “transgender” and “queer."
The Pentagon also removed and restored a webpage on the Department of Defense’s website mentioning the first Black MLB star player, Jackie Robinson.
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