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This is a book I heard about that covers the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad Records: Narrating the Hardships, Hairbreadth Escapes, and Death Struggles of Slaves in Their Efforts for Freedom By William Still https://amzn.to/3YcTycP

#black history #william still #the underground railroad #the underground railroad records #african american

Today we'll delve into the life and the mostly-behind-the-scenes accomplishments of abolitionist William Still. Born in 1819 to formerly-enslaved parents who had managed to escape to New Jersey, William was the youngest of eighteen siblings. However his two eldest brothers, by dint of conflicting state law fineprint of the time, were themselves still considered legally enslaved in Maryland, and were then sold to plantation owners in Kentucky, and then to Alabama --putting them beyond the reach of the rest of their family. The oldest brother, Levin, died of whipping injuries, but the second brother, Peter, eventually managed to escape to Ohio at the age of 50 with his wife and their family; Peter would later publish a memoir of the experience in 1856. Peter would eventually reunite with his brother William after having been separated for 42 years, thanks in part to the assistance of The Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society: an organization that actively helped escaped slaves, and was in many ways model/forerunner for the Underground Railroad.

With such a heartbreaking family history and vivid personal firsthand experience, it was probably inevitable that William Still would quickly rally to the cause of abolition. In 1844 he moved to Philadelphia and joined the aforementioned Society, originally as a clerk and then ultimately as its chairman --the first Black man to do so. In 1847 he married Letitia George; together they assisted with helping a great many escaped slaves into Northern states or even into Canada --at one point averaging 60 runaways per month. Two of these 'adventures' (for lack of a more appropriate word) gained considerable notice in the popular press: Jane Johnson and her two sons, who escaped from an owner in 1855 (said owner later sued Still but lost); and Lear Green, who was famously smuggled into New York in a sailor's chest in 1850. The Stills were also instrumental in sheltering several of John Brown's co-conspirators after the failed 1859 raid at Harper's Ferry (see Lesson #116 in this series for more about that singular event). During the Civil War Still oversaw the postal exchange at Camp William Penn, a training ground in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania for United States Colored Troops (USCT).

Over the years Still kept meticulous records of his and Letitia's efforts to rescue and shelter fugitive slaves, and their many connections to their fellow "conductors" and agents --both in the South, and as far north as Canada. While anecdotally there is no indication that they ever met or interacted with Harriet Tubman, they were very much contemporaries and certainly would have moved in much the same circles. After the Civil War, Still remained fiercely devoted to the cause of civil rights, and managed several businesses and philanthropic organizations, to include Philadelphia's first YMCA. In 1867 he published Struggle for the Civil Rights of the Coloured People of Philadelphia in the City Railway Cars, a narrative of Still's campaign to end Black exclusion from city streetcars. Later in 1871 he published The Underground Railroad Records, a definitive memoir that is today regarded as one of the fundamental publications that provides proper context of the time, containing many firsthand testimonials from people like Lear Green and Jane Johnson, and also from other Underground Railroad conductors. Still died in 1902 and is buried at Eden Cemetery, now the nation's oldest African-American owned cemetery.

#black lives matter #black history #black history month #abolition #william still #underground railroad #civil war #fugitive slave act #pesach #teachtruth #dothework #showup

The Underground Railroad by William Still

While I think this has value as a historical document, and gives character and context to a time period, it doesn't make for a very interesting book. William Still recorded the stories and kept the letters of escaping slaves who made their way through Philadelphia, and those documents were eventually published as this novel. He did his best to introduce each individual and give a brief overview of their life, but I found myself wanting a deeper dive into each person. The quality of the writing was also incredibly variable, being a collection of letters from a wide variety of people. If you want to read a first-hand account of slavery and escape from this time period, I think there are several other biographies that would be more useful to the average person. I'd recommend 12 Years a Slave and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl instead.

#the underground railroad #william still #underground railroad #book #books #book review #bookstagram #the book look #history #black history #american history #african american #slavery #slave #slave narrative #autobiography #escaped slave #black power

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Leslie Odom Jr., in Harriet

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Harriet: William Still [ESFJ]

Functional Order: Fe-Si-Ne-Ti Judging Functional Axis:

Extroverted Feeling (Fe) / Introverted Thinking (Ti)

William is a social activist who champions for abolition, makes speeches to rally people to the cause, and uses whatever means at his disposal, including his abolitionist newspaper, to spread the message of liberation for the enslaved people in the South. He offers Harriet a warm…

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#2w1 #black history month #enneagram #enneagram 2 #esfj #harriet #historical #mbti #william still #esfj x 2w1 #c: 2w1 #c: esfj #m: esfj #official typing #character typing

The Hagley Library is celebrating Juneteenth today, the annual holiday commemorating the June 19, 1865 date that Major General Gordon Granger and his Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, one of the last Confederate states that had not yet been subject to enforcement of the terms of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, issued two years earlier on January 1, 1863. By the end of December, 1865, the final ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment freed the remainder of slaves being legally held in bondage in the Union states of Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland and New Jersey and in the states of the former Confederacy.

This receipt was issued to J. Heston Smith on December 30, 1858 for a two-year subscription to the National Anti-Slavery Standard, a weekly newspaper published from 1840 to 1870 in Philadelphia and New York City by the American Anti-Slavery Society.

The receipt is signed by William Still, likely the same William Still (1821-1902) who chaired the Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. The address of the office printed on the receipt is that of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, where Still was also a clerk. Born in New Jersey to a father who had bought his freedom in 1798 and a mother who had escaped from slavery in Maryland, Still grew up to become an active conductor on the Underground Railroad as well as a notable author, businessman, and philanthropist in the Philadelphia area. Still’s family also included Dr. James Still (1812-1882), the locally famous ‘Black Doctor of the Pines’. J. Heston Smith is a less well-documented presence in the historical record, but the name does appear in this format in regional records of the Friends Intelligencer, a monthly Quaker publication based out of Philadelphia whose members and subscribers formed a core constituency of white abolitionists and subscribers to anti-slavery publications. The Jacob Heston Smith named in these sources died at age 70 on June 7, 1896 in Lambertville, New Jersey.

This receipt is call number Pam 2012.0262 in the Hagley Library’s collections.

#Juneteenth #Emancipation Proclamation #Thirteenth Amendment #slavery #anti-slavery #1860s #Civil War #National Anti-Slavery Standard #American Anti-Slavery Society #abolition of slavery #abolition #abolitionist #Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society #Philadelphia #Philadelphia history #underground railroad #William Still #Quakers #Friends Intelligencer

*watches documentary on the underground railroad*

*immediately wants to punch a 19th century slave owner*

#history #african american history #american history #black history #the underground railroad #documentary #harriet tubman #william still

Learn how James Hambleton Christian, an enslaved person who worked for some time at the White House, experienced slavery, love, and the Underground Railroad.

First published in 1872, William Still’s The Underground Rail Road drew on the author’s personal experience working with the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society in order to present an engaging, authentic account of the journey from slavery to freedom. Using interviews and personal recollections, Still profiled hundreds of escaped slaves and the abolitionists who helped them along the way. The son of escaped slaves himself, Still understood the importance of documenting these stories and was scrupulous about their accuracy and authenticity. One of the formerly enslaved people he wrote about, James Hambleton Christian, had been a slave in the household of President John Tyler and served in the White House before making his escape.