William Still: The Underground Railroad and the Angel at Philadelphia

by William C. Kashatus

The first full-length biography of William Still, one of the most important leaders of the Underground Railroad.

William Still: The Underground Railroad and the Angel at Philadelphia is the first major biography of the free black abolitionist William Still, who coordinated the Eastern Line of the Underground Railroad and was a pillar of the Railroad as a whole. Based in Philadelphia, Still built a reputation as a courageous leader, writer, philanthropist, and guide for fugitive slaves. This monumental work details Still's life story beginning with his parents' escape from bondage in the early nineteenth century and continuing through his youth and adulthood as one of the nation's most important Underground Railroad agents and, later, as an early civil rights pioneer. Still worked personally with Harriet Tubman, assisted the family of John Brown, helped Brown's associates escape from Harper's Ferry after their famous raid, and was a rival to Frederick Douglass among nationally prominent African American abolitionists. Still's life story is told in the broader context of the anti-slavery movement, Philadelphia Quaker and free black history, and the generational conflict that occurred between Still and a younger group of free black activists led by Octavius Catto.

Unique to this book is an accessible and detailed database of the 995 fugitives Still helped escape from the South to the North and Canada between 1853 and 1861. The database contains twenty different fields--including name, age, gender, skin color, date of escape, place of origin, mode of transportation, and literacy--and serves as a valuable aid for scholars by offering the opportunity to find new information, and therefore a new perspective, on runaway slaves who escaped on the Eastern Line of the Underground Railroad. Based on Still's own writings and a multivariate statistical analysis of the database of the runaways he assisted on their escape to freedom, the book challenges previously accepted interpretations of the Underground Railroad. The audience for William Still is a diverse one, including scholars and general readers interested in the history of the anti-slavery movement and the operation of the Underground Railroad, as well as genealogists tracing African American ancestors.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Civil War, American

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

William C. Kashatus is an historian, educator and author. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Earlham College, he earned an MA in history at Brown University and a PhD in history education at the University of Pennsylvania. He currently teaches history at Luzerne County Community College in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Still
A decent view into the life of the “Father of the Underground Railroad”, William Still, of Philadelphia. A man whose work in the Underground Railroad should certainly not go without credit; most importantly, his anthropological-like work of documenting the newly freed slaves who successfully made it to Philadelphia via the Underground Railroad. His notes were saved for posterity in book form when “The Underground Railroad: Authentic Narratives and First-Hand Accounts” was first published in 1872. His abolitionist work with Quakers, stationmasters, and conductors was vital to the operation of the Underground Railroad. However, as times change, so did opinions on how best to challenge slavery and segregation. A new and younger generation favored the use of protest and direct action while the goodwill of William Still was eroded as he steadfastly continued to rely on moral suasion to convince others of the wrongs of slavery.

Additionally, you can get a peek into the life of William Still as he was portrayed by Leslie Odom Jr. in the movie “Harriet” (2019). He is also 1 of 10 individuals USPS chose to honor in 2024 with a Forever Stamp commemorating the heroes of the Underground Railroad.

[Zeb Kantrowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book well worth reading for anyone who wants to understand why the Underground Railroad was created and how those who used it succeeded. Still was first born into slavery and escaped when in his teen years. He decided to stay in Philadelphia and create his life and help others.

Still was unusual in that besides working with the Quakers in supporting and expanding the use of the UR, he was also a businessman. During his life he was both congratulated for how he helped slaves along the way to Canada, he also helped to raise significant numbers of 'colored troops' during the Civil War.

After the war he found himself at odds with the second generation of free blacks. He was on the opposite side from Booker T Washington. He did not believe in going back to Africa and felt that it was best for Blacks to stay in America and make their fortunes.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
YouTube Audible

[Valarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may not be everyone's cup of tea -- there's a bit of repetition and a lot of statistics, but to people who want to learn more about Still, the free black population of antebellum Philadelphia, and the Underground Railroad, this is a really good book. It's dry in parts, but every time I picked it up, I found myself riveted for a few chapters. It's also not as long as it looks, about a quarter of it is notes.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book really interesting and enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at the Underground Railroad. Biographical details and personal disagreements between Still and others I found less interesting. It was loaded with meticulously researched statistics which I personally loved but others may find tedious. The writing was a bit stilted and formal, like a PhD thesis. I would have liked more slave escape stories.

[Bayla Jacobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting academic work. Not a biography-documentary so not a smooth read but really interesting and sad to know how much people went through and how little people helped but I guess we can look back at those who are the helping people...

[Rick Elinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thank Kashatus for publishing this recent book on William Still, a major figure in the operation of the underground railroad that helped Blacks flee slavery in the 1850's. Not only was Still involved in almost a thousand passages of former slaves through Philadelphia and on to more northern refuges and Canada, he kept meticulous records of each person Records include names, ages, sex, month and year of escape, city and county of servitude, and former owners. It was dangerous for Still to keep this record, as its discovery would have led minimally under the odious 1850 Fugitive Slave Act to Still's imprisonment, the hunting down of former slaves, and the conviction of named underground railroad conductors. Still's publication of this record in 1872 provides a major source for information of the underground railroad.

Although this book is very valuable in shining a spotlight on this forgotten figure, I wanted more. Kashatus relied heavily on Still's 1872 book plus the biography of Still by James P. Boyd appended to the 1886 edition of Still's book. I want to read Boyd's biography to see what, if anything, was newly found by Kashutas.

One interesting chapter "The Streetcar Protest" parallels events of the Civil Rights Movement 100 years later. Blacks were forbidden from riding in public horse-drawn streetcars in Philadelphia, even after the Civil War. Still fought this prohibition with little satisfaction. Rather than appealing to white sympathizers, more radical young black activists took direct action after the 15th Amendment and boarded streetcars illegally. Not only does this action provide echoes of the later actions of Rosa Parks and the Freedom Riders on interstate buses, but it also pre-shadows the split between Martin Luther King jr.'s approach to dismantle the Jim Crow laws and the more radical Black Power actions of Stokely Carmichael