Person · 1821–1902

William Still

The "Father of the Underground Railroad," who aided some 800 freedom seekers and recorded their stories.

The great chronicler of the [[underground-railroad]].

As chairman of Philadelphia's Vigilance Committee, William Still sheltered and forwarded hundreds of escapees — and meticulously recorded their names and accounts, publishing them in 1872 as "The Underground Railroad," the movement's greatest primary source. He once recognized his own long-lost brother among those he helped.

The Underground Railroad

On the timeline

1852
William Still's Vigilance Committee
Philadelphia reorganizes its Vigilance Committee under William Still, who begins the record-keeping that becomes the UGRR's defining archive.

Resources

Primary sources·1

Primary source· Primary

The Underground Railroad: A Record of Facts (1872, full text)

William Still

The movement's greatest primary source — hundreds of escapes in the freedom seekers' own words.

Documentaries·1

Documentary

Underground Railroad: The William Still Story

PBS / WNED

A documentary on William Still and the Philadelphia network.

The web

Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.

part of·Thread
The Underground Railroad
Still's records are the backbone of what we know about the Underground Railroad.