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.