In the winter of 1852, a group of Philadelphia abolitionists dedicated to assisting runaway slaves in their flight to freedom formed a new assistance group to be part of the Underground Railroad—the General Vigilance Committee. William Still, himself a son of slaves, was named its secretary and executive director. Deeply moved by the stories of the fugitive slaves he helped conduct northward, Still took his committee record-keeping to a higher level. He wrote down, in eloquent narrative fo...

William Still (1821–1902) was an African-American abolitionist, businessman, writer, historian, civil rights activist. He was also a conductor on the Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safe houses created in the United States during the early to the mid-19th century for use by African American slaves in order to escape into free states or Canada. In 1872, he published “The Underground Railroad”, an account of the underground system and the experiences of 649 slaves who es...

Taking the Underground Railroad to Freedom gathers documentary narrative, memoir, testimony, and biographical writing around one of the most consequential networks of antislavery resistance in the United States. Its selections move between clandestine journeys, acts of mutual aid, moral argument, and the precarious crossings through which enslaved people asserted claims to liberty. The collection's varied forms preserve both the immediacy of escape narratives and the reflective force of re...

The Underground Railroad Collection: Real Life Stories of the Former Slaves and Abolitionists gathers documentary testimony, memoir, biography, and reformist narrative into a compelling portrait of resistance to slavery in nineteenth-century America. Its pages illuminate flight, concealment, legal danger, moral courage, and communal networks of aid, placing individual acts of liberation within the larger literary context of slave narrative, abolitionist print culture, and postbellum rememb...

William Still's The Underground Railroad (1872) is a landmark documentary history of the clandestine network that aided enslaved people seeking freedom in the antebellum United States. Combining narrative biography, autobiographical testimony, correspondence, organizational records, and abolitionist commentary, Still reconstructs the journeys of fugitives and the assistance offered by Black and white agents. Its episodic structure and vivid personal accounts give the work both archival aut...

"The Underground Railroad" chronicles the stories and methods of some 649 slaves who escaped to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Author, William Still included his carefully compiled and detailed documentation about those that he had helped escape into the pages of The Underground Railroad Records. William Still (1821-1902) was an African-American abolitionist in Philadelphia, conductor on the Underground Railroad, businessman, writer, historian and civil rights activist.

Like millions of my race, my mother and father were born slaves, but were not contented to live and die so. My father purchased himself in early manhood by hard toil. Mother saw no way for herself and children to escape the horrors of bondage but by flight. Bravely, with her four little ones, with firm faith in God and an ardent desire to be free, she forsook the prison-house, and succeeded, through the aid of my father, to reach a free State. Here life had to be begun anew. The old famili...

Detailed accounts of escapes from slavery. First published in 1872. According to Wikipedia: "William Still (October 7, 1821 – July 14, 1902) was an African-American abolitionist, conductor on the Underground Railroad, writer, historian and civil rights activist.' The Preface begins: "Like millions of my race, my mother and father were born slaves, but were not contented to live and die so. My father purchased himself in early manhood by hard toil. Mother saw no way for herself and children...

The Underground Railroad Collection: Real Life Stories of the Former Slaves and Abolitionists brings to life the harrowing, invigorating narratives of escape and the tireless quest for freedom facilitated by the Underground Railroad. This anthology not only provides personal testimonies and experiences from those who dared to flee bondage but also includes writings from prominent abolitionists who aided their journeys. Packing a diverse range of storytelling styles—from diaries and letters...

In "The Underground Railroad," William Still meticulously chronicles the harrowing journeys of enslaved individuals seeking freedom through the clandestine network that characterized this vital period in American history. Employing a blend of narrative prose and documentary style, Still's work is steeped in rich historical detail yet imbued with the emotional weight of personal testimonies and accounts. His use of vivid imagery and character sketches ensures that each narrative resonates p...

William Still's The Underground Railroad is a monumental documentary history of resistance to American slavery, assembled from the records of fugitives who passed through the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee. Combining testimonial narrative, biographical sketches, letters, legal documents, and engraved illustrations, the work occupies a crucial place between abolitionist literature, archive, and collective autobiography. Its prose is direct yet morally charged, preserving the voices, route...

A "conductor" based in Philadelphia, Still (1821–1902) helped guide fugitive slaves to safety in the years before the Civil War. He also created this unforgettable history, a collection of carefully preserved letters, newspaper articles, and firsthand accounts about refugees' hardships, narrow escapes, and deadly struggles. Over 50 illustrations. "Highly recommended."— Midwest Book Review.