CHURCH CREEK-MD : At the center’s entryway, Deanna Mitchell gestured to the bronze bust of Harriet Tubman, encouraging guests to feel the scars by touching the nape of its neck.
Mitchell, administrator of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Na
tional Historical Park, which has a tourist center, remarked, “It was a dark time.
Following the temporary removal of information about the abolitionist from the National Park Service’s website by the Trump administration, Tubman has garnered renewed public attention in recent weeks.
Following a public outcry, the Tubman photo and quotation were reinstated, but the action sparked concerns among other cases of Black and Native American individuals being momentarily taken down from federal websites.
President Donald Trump has frequently attacked what he has called unfair “woke” programs to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in his first three months in office. The “revisionist” narrative of American history, which highlights what he characterizes as bad events, has been the focus of that criticism.
“Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth,” Trump stated in an executive order issued on March 27.
The National Park Service has recently bragged about its efforts to preserve the histories of marginalized groups, investing millions last year alone to rebuild and construct sites that tell the stories of Japanese internees during World War II, Mexican farmworkers who were all but forgotten, and abolitionists like Tubman.
However, as the Trump administration changes how the government portrays America’s past, some historians, civil rights advocates, and educators fear that such initiatives may be reduced or even abandoned.
Bryan Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization, stated, “Very few serious historians, scholars, or cultural experts think the problem in America is that we have talked too much about our history of racial injustice, the history of slavery, lynching, and segregation.” “The opposite has been the issue.”
Additionally, the government revisions are perceived by Meeta Anand, senior director of Census and Data Equity at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, as an effort to dictate the narrative of America.
“It represents a very deliberate effort to erase certain communities and the contributions communities have made,” she stated.
‘History has tentacles’
Mitchell escorted guests through exhibits detailing Tubman’s life story on a recent Wednesday. She described how the abolitionist risked his life to aid family members and other Black enslaved individuals in escaping via the Underground Railroad.
Mitchell informed them, “Given what she had to go through, she lived a long life.”
Tubman’s story is being told at two National Park Service locations, including the center. The other is in Auburn, New York, where Tubman lived until she passed away at the age of ninety-one.
The center, co-managed by the Maryland Park Service, had 30,000 visitors last year. Many had been there before.
In fact, visitors are immersing themselves in the environment in which she was, and guided tours are used to teach them,” Mitchell added. “Tactile objects that they can touch and obtain information from are helping them learn.”
Mitchell stated that the staff is putting in a lot of effort because the center’s mission is to assist people better understand history, and she has not heard of any planned changes to the organization.
The National Park Service announced $23.4 million in awards for 39 projects in April of last year with the goal of preserving locations and narratives of African American struggles for equal rights.
According to Mitchell, the National Park Service has expanded throughout time to include locations with rich histories, moving away from its initial emphasis on parks and nature.
“As a service, we came to understand that history has tentacles,” she said. “Moreover, there are cultural facets of our past that require protection and preservation.”
‘You want people to know the history’
In search of further Tubman places to see, the Reidy family looked at a map outside the Underground Railroad Visitor Center.
To find out more about Tubman, Tim and Kim Reidy brought their kids, Elizabeth and Sam, to the center. They were traveling from Westchester, New York, for spring break.
Kim Reidy remarked, “It seemed like an important and historically relevant aspect of the place’s history to bring them to.” “I’m happy to see places like this.”
On April 16, 2025, Kim and Tim Reidy traveled to Church Creek, Maryland, to visit the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center with their kids, Elizabeth and Sam.
Despite having studied Tubman in school, 15-year-old Elizabeth stated that “it’s so important to have museums and these spaces dedicated to this.
According to Tim Reidy, the family might also go to Auburn’s Tubman Center.
“Reading about it is one thing, but experiencing it in the real world is quite another,” he remarked. “It’s clear why people wish to visit this place. That is something you do not want to lose.
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