After a backlash, National Park Service restores old Underground Railroad webpage that prominently features Harriet Tubman

By Zoe Sottile, CNN

(CNN) — The National Park Service on Monday returned an image of and quote from Harriet Tubman to a webpage about the Underground Railroad, following backlash after her presence on the page was dramatically reduced.

The agency said the reduced mention of Tubman had been made without approval by top leadership.

Until mid-February, the top of the NPS’ “What is the Underground Railroad?” page featured a large photo of Tubman, the railroad’s most famous “conductor,” records from the Wayback Machine show. Next to it was a quote from Tubman about her experience coordinating the clandestine network for slaves seeking freedom.

But sometime in February it was changed, swapping the large image of Tubman for small commemorative stamps of five abolitionists – among them Tubman – a screen grab from the webpage on March 19 captured by the Wayback Machine shows. Text on the stamps touted “Black/White Cooperation.” Tubman’s quote was removed and the text amended significantly in the updated version.

The Washington Post first reported on the change Sunday, which prompted backlash from historians and educators.

Asked about the restoration of Tubman’s image and quote to the page, an NPS spokesperson told CNN, “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.”

The edited version – without Tubman’s quote or image – had been live since at least February 21, the Wayback Machine shows.

The edited webpage featured revised text that did not mention slavery until the third paragraph and cut a reference to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 entirely. The edited article had swapped a description of enslaved peoples’ efforts to free themselves with two paragraphs that emphasized the “American ideals of liberty and freedom.”

The recent reduction of Tubman’s presence on the webpage, coming after several other prominent changes to government websites as the administration enacts a sweeping anti-DEI agenda, incurred criticism from some who said the change minimized Tubman’s crucial contributions to the Underground Railroad. The abolitionist is credited with helping free scores of enslaved people during the Civil War period.

One historian, Fergus Bordewich, had called the edits “both offensive and absurd” in an interview with CNN.

Before the page was reverted Monday afternoon, an NPS spokesperson defended the changes, telling CNN “the idea that a couple web edits somehow invalidate the National Park Service’s commitment to telling complex and challenging historical narratives is completely false and belies the extensive websites, social media posts, and programs we offer about Harriet Tubman specifically and Black History as a whole.”

The spokesperson highlighted the two national historical parks named for Tubman.

“The National Park Service recognizes Harriet Tubman as the Underground Railroad’s best known conductor and we celebrate her as a deeply spiritual woman who lived her ideals and dedicated her life to freedom,” the NPS said.

There is a separate National Park Service page dedicated to Tubman, who was born into slavery in Maryland before fleeing to Philadelphia. She returned to Maryland over a dozen times to help free other slaves, guiding them through the “Underground Railroad,” a secret network of routes and safe houses. The park service webpage on Tubman does not seem to have been changed since January 28, 2025.

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