The National Park Service recently restored its content on Black history, including the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman, as well as the amidst backlash.
Updated earlier this week, the webpage on the Underground Railroad was restored to its original content after an initial rewrite. The site was changed to reflect a retelling of the Underground Railroad, where it was a story of “Black/White cooperation” leading up to the Civil War and erased references to enslavement.
A photo of abolitionist Harriet Tubman was also removed. The picture has since been restored alongside the webpage’s update. Tubman’s role in history was further downplayed as the National Park Service removed a quote from her about leading in the Underground Railroad and replaced it with postal stamps of both Black and white people working alongside each other.
The changes were met with national backlash as nonprofits, such as the National Parks Conservation Association, called out the Trump administration for attempting to rewrite history.
Since assuming office, the current administration has signed in a number of executive orders, dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across government sectors. The stories of women, Black Americans, Native Americans and other BIPOC Americans were promptly taken down from government websites such as that of the Defense Department. Some sites have since been restored.
An executive order was also issued late last month to address what was called the “revisionist movement” being led by the Smithsonian and other museums. Since it went into effect, leaders such as Kevin Young, the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, have been stepping down from their positions. Massive cuts are also to be expected.
“For more than a century, National Park Service staff have worked tirelessly to provide park visitors with the unvarnished truth about our history,” said the Conservation Association per a public statement. “But in the span of just a few weeks, this administration has worked to undermine the Park Service and replace American history with warmed-over nostalgia. They have tried to erase LGBTQ+ stories from our national narrative, rewrite Black history and women’s history, and muzzle the Park Service.”
Speaking to Axios following the updates earlier this week, however, the National Park Service denied official changes and maintained that the rewriting was a mistake. The spokesman for the National Park Service, Rachel Pawlitz, addressed the differences, saying that they were “web edits” and did not reflect a change in mission to invalidate their commitment to telling the history of the Underground Railroad.
“Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Service’s website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership,” said Pawlitz per Axios. “The webpage was immediately restored to its original content.”
