ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Tara Babb loves history.
“I found it really engaging and interesting and important,” Babb said.
As a park guide at Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, she spent her days sharing stories of history with visitors from around the world.
“I just loved it,” she said.
Babb’s journey to the Castillo was not a straight path. She originally worked in accounting. But she went back to school, following her passion for history and eventually working at parks across the country.
“We protect things that are our literal treasures,” she said. “Literal national treasures that identify us as a people. We look at these and we say this means America”
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In May, Babb got a job as a park guide at Castillo de San Marcos, A place she said she always wanted to get back to.
But in February, Babb received an email that changed everything. The Trump Administration had ordered federal agencies to lay off “probationary employees” who had not yet gained civil service protection. The day after that order, she was let go immediately.
“The next couple of days, it was just a lot of sadness,” she said. “I had projects I was in the middle of that I cared a lot about and was looking forward to, and I just felt grieved about that.”
Babb now finds herself navigating unemployment, unsure of what comes next but certain that history is still her calling. “It’s something inside me that I have to do,” she said.
The Trump Administration’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce have led to thousands of job cuts. The Department of Government Efficiency has been tasked with maximizing efficiency.
News4JAX has reached out to the National Park Service for details on employees impacted in the area. So far, there has not been a response yet.