A Recent Edit to the National Park Service Tried to Erase Harriet Tubman From the Underground Railroad Story

The face of Harriet Tubman returned to the official Underground Railroad webpage this week. So did the words. So did the history.

The U.S. National Park Service quietly reversed recent edits to its webpage on the Underground Railroad after facing backlash for removing references to slavery and eliminating the image of Tubman, one of the nation’s most revered freedom fighters. The changes had stripped the page of its language describing the brutal reality of bondage and the acts of defiance by those who sought to escape it.

The rollback came less than twenty-four hours after The Washington Post reported the edits. At the center of the controversy stood a familiar force: the current administration. A new executive order signed by the president in March directed federal agencies, including the Smithsonian, to remove what he described as “divisive narratives.” In practice, the directive appears to have prompted a reevaluation of how history is told across government platforms.

Edits Prompt Accusations of the Erasure of Harriet Tubman

Two National Park Service employees, speaking anonymously for fear of retribution, told The Post that political appointees at the Interior Department had pushed senior staff to identify webpages that might need revisions. That guidance seemed to coincide with a broader effort to reshape how race, resistance and remembrance are publicly acknowledged in the U.S.

By Monday evening, the Underground Railroad page had returned to its previous form, including a photo of Tubman and a passage describing the network as “efforts of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom by escaping bondage.” Yet other edits across NPS pages remained untouched.

Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland addressed the controversy directly. “We cannot let him whitewash it as part of his larger effort to erase our history,” he posted on social media.

The Dangers of Historical Revision

The National Park Service is not alone in this moment. Recent reports have uncovered similar alterations across government platforms. A Department of Defense article about Jackie Robinson’s military service in World War II was quietly taken down and later reinstated. An Army tribute to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the segregated Japanese American unit that fought during the same war, was also restored after public outrage.

In a statement to CNN, the National Park Service said, “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.”

As of now, Harriet Tubman remains on the page. The words do too. For how long, no one can say.