William Still

Born free in New Jersey in 1821, William Still became one of the most important Black abolitionists in the United States. In Philadelphia he worked with the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society and played a central role in the Underground Railroad, assisting people escaping slavery as they moved north to safety.

Still is especially remembered for keeping detailed notes on the lives and journeys of the men and women he helped. Those records later formed the basis of The Underground Railroad, a landmark book that preserved personal stories that might otherwise have been lost.

He was also a businessman and a civil rights advocate who pushed for equal treatment beyond the fight against slavery. After a long life of activism and public service, he died in 1902, leaving behind one of the richest surviving accounts of the Underground Railroad written by someone who took part in it.