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William Still

William Still (October 7, 1821 [ 1 ] [ 2 ] – July 14, 1902) was an African-American abolitionist based in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . He was a conductor of the Underground Rai...

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William Still (October 7, 1821[1][2] – July 14, 1902) was an African-American abolitionist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a conductor of the Underground Railroad and was responsible for aiding and assisting at least 649 slaves to freedom. Still was also a businessman, writer, historian and civil rights activist. Before the American Civil War, Still was chairman of the Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, named the Vigilant Association of Philadelphia. He directly aided fugitive slaves and also kept records of the people served in order to help families reunite.

After the war, Still continued as a prominent businessman, a coal merchant, and philanthropist. He used his meticulous records to write an account of the underground system and the experiences of many escaped slaves, entitled The Underground Railroad Records (1872).

Household

William Still was born in Shamong Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, to former slaves Charity (formerly named Sidney) and Levin Still.[3][4] He was the youngest of eighteen children.[5] His parents had migrated separately to New Jersey. First, his father had bought his freedom in 1798 from his master in Caroline County, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore and moved north to New Jersey. Levin stayed around in Maryland until 1805 in order to keep watch on his wife and children. After arriving in Evesham Township, they became friends with families named “Still” and assumed the last name in order to hide Charity’s fugitive status.

His mother, Charity, escaped twice from Maryland. The first time, she and four children were all recaptured and returned to slavery. A few months later, Charity escaped again, taking only her two younger daughters with her, and reached her husband in New Jersey. Following her escape, Charity and Levin had 14 more children, of whom William was the youngest. Though these children were born in the free state of New Jersey, under Maryland and federal slave law, they were still legally slaves, as their mother was an escaped slave. According to New Jersey law, however, they were free.[6] They settled in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey a small township named Shamong Township.

Neither Charity nor Levin could free their two older boys, who remained enslaved in Maryland. Levin, Jr., and Peter Still were sold from Maryland to slave owners in Lexington, Kentucky. Later they were resold to planters in Alabama in the Deep South. Levin, Jr., died from a whipping while enslaved. Peter, his wife "Vina", and most of his family escaped from slavery when he was about age 50, with the help of two brothers named Friedman, who operated mercantile establishments in Florence, Alabama, and Cincinnati, Ohio. They were the subject of a book published in 1856.[7][8]

Later Peter Still sought help at the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, seeking to find his parents or other members of his birth family. He met William Still there, but initially had no idea they were related. As William listened to Peter's story, he recognized the history his mother had told him many times. After learning that his older brother Levin was whipped to death for visiting his wife without permission, William shouted, "What if I told you I was your brother!" Later Peter and his mother were reunited after having been separated for 42 years.

Another of William's brothers was James Still. Born in New Jersey in 1812, James wanted to become a doctor but said he "was not the right color to enter where such knowledge was dispensed." James studied herbs and plants and apprenticed himself to a white doctor to learn medicine. He became known as the "Black Doctor of the Pines", as he lived and practiced in the Medford Township, New Jersey. James's son, James Thomas Still, was the third African-American to graduate from Harvard Medical School in 1871.[6]

William's other siblings included Levin, Jr.; Peter; James; Samuel; Mary, a teacher and missionary in the African Methodist Episcopal Church; Mahala (who married Gabriel Thompson); and Kitturah, who moved to Pennsylvania.

Marriage and children

In 1844, William Still moved from New Jersey to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1847, the same year he was hired as a clerk for the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, Still married Letitia George. They had four children who survived infancy.[9] Their oldest was Caroline Virginia Matilda Still, one of the first Black women to become a physician in the United States. Caroline attended Oberlin College and the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia (much later known as the Medical College of Pennsylvania). She married Edward J. Wiley. After he died, she married again, to the Reverend Matthew Anderson, longtime pastor of the Berean Presbyterian Church in North Philadelphia. She had an extensive private medical practice in Philadelphia and was also a community activist, teacher and leader.

William Wilberforce Still (1854–1932) graduated from Lincoln University[10] and subsequently practiced law in Philadelphia. Robert George Still (1861–1896) became a journalist and owned a print shop on Pine at 11th Street in central Philadelphia. Frances Ellen Still (1857–1943) became a kindergarten teacher (she was named after poet Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, who had lived with the Stills before her marriage).[11] According to the 1900 U.S. Census, William W., his wife, and Frances Ellen all lived in the same household as the elderly William Still and his wife, confirming the custom of extended families living together.[12]

Activism

A historical marker outside Still's residence in Philadelphia

Abolitionism

In 1847, three years after settling in Philadelphia, Still began working as a clerk for the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society.[11] When Philadelphia abolitionists organized a Vigilance Committee to directly aid escaped slaves who had reached the city, Still became its chairman.[9] This led him and his wife Letitia to move to a relatively new rowhouse on the east side of Ronaldson Street between South and Bainbridge Streets, which still stands today at 625 S. Delhi Street. The Stills occupied this house, which was an Underground Railroad Way Station, from 1850 through 1855.[13] It was here where Stills untied the box that carried Lear Green on her escape from Maryland in a steamer chest. Through his status as chairman of the Vigilance Committee, Still was one of the leaders of Philadelphia's African-American community.

In 1855, he participated in the nationally covered rescue of Jane Johnson, a slave who sought help from the Society in gaining freedom while passing through Philadelphia with her master John Hill Wheeler, newly appointed US Minister to Nicaragua. Still and others liberated her and her two sons under Pennsylvania law, which held that slaves brought to the free state voluntarily by a slaveholder could choose freedom. Her master sued him and five other African-Americans for assault and kidnapping in a high-profile case in August 1855. Jane Johnson returned to Philadelphia from New York and testified in court as to her independence in choosing freedom, winning an acquittal for Still and four others, and reduced sentences for the last two men.[11]

In 1859, Still challenged the segregation of the city's public transit system, which had separate seating for whites and blacks.[14] He kept lobbying and, in 1865, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a law to integrate streetcars across the state.[15]

Underground Railroad

In his obituary, The New York Times proclaimed Still "The Father of the Underground Railroad."[16] William Still helped as many as 800 slaves escape to freedom. He interviewed each person and kept careful records, including a brief biography and the destination for each, along with any alias adopted. He kept his records carefully hidden but knew the accounts would be critical in aiding the future reunion of family members who became separated under slavery, which he had learned when he aided his own brother Peter, whom he had never met before.

Still worked with other Underground Railroad agents operating in the South, including in Virginia ports, nearby Delaware and Maryland, and in many counties in southern Pennsylvania. His network to freedom also included agents in New Jersey, New York, New England and Canada. William Still provided material support and encouragement for Harriet Tubman to begin her work as a conductor of the Underground Railroad.[17] She traveled through his office with fellow passengers on several occasions during the 1850s. Still also forged a connection with the family of John Brown, and sheltered several of Brown's associates fleeing the 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry.[3]

American Civil War and aftermath

Durante la Guerra Civil Estadounidense , Still administró el economato del Campamento William Penn , el campo de entrenamiento para las Tropas de Color de los Estados Unidos al norte de Filadelfia. También abrió una tienda de estufas y en 1861 compró un depósito de carbón y operó un negocio de reparto de carbón, que continuó operando después de la guerra. [ 18 ] [ 19 ]

En 1867, Still publicó Una breve narración de la lucha por los derechos de la gente de color de Filadelfia en los vagones del ferrocarril de la ciudad . [ 20 ]

En 1872, Still publicó un relato del Ferrocarril Subterráneo, The Underground Railroad Records , basado en las notas secretas cuidadosamente registradas que había guardado en diarios durante esos años. Su libro incluye sus impresiones de jefes de estación como Thomas Garrett , Daniel Gibbons y Abigail Goodwin. Tuvo tres ediciones y en 1876 se exhibió en la Exposición del Centenario de Filadelfia . [ 12 ] [ 21 ] Desde entonces, los historiadores lo han utilizado para comprender cómo funcionaba el Ferrocarril Subterráneo; tanto el Proyecto Gutenberg [ 22 ] como el archivo de Internet [ 23 ] hacen que el texto esté disponible gratuitamente. Además de todo lo demás, William desarrolló una fuerte devoción por ayudar a salvar a las personas esclavizadas.

Negocios y filantropía

Después de la guerra, Still continuó siendo un empresario activo, filántropo y activista social en el área metropolitana de Filadelfia. [ 11 ]

Además de su negocio de carbón, Still poseía una considerable cantidad de bienes raíces, incluyendo Liberty Hall, que durante un tiempo fue el salón público más grande de los Estados Unidos propiedad de un hombre negro. También era accionista de la revista The Nation , miembro de la Cámara de Comercio de Filadelfia y financió y dirigió la Asociación Estadística Social y Civil de Filadelfia (que, entre otras cosas, realizaba un seguimiento de las personas liberadas). [ 20 ]

Still also remained active in the Colored Conventions Movement, having attended national conventions including the New England Colored Citizens' Convention of 1859, where he advocated for equal educational opportunities for all African Americans.[19] He also advocated for temperance which motivated him to organize a mission Sabbath School for the Presbyterian Church.[24] He was a member of the Freedmen's Aid Union and Commission, an officer of the Philadelphia Home for the Aged and Infirm Colored Persons, and an elder in the Presbyterian church (where he established Sabbath Schools to promote literacy including among freed blacks).[3][11]

He had a strong interest in the welfare of black youth. He helped to establish an orphanage and the first YMCA for African Americans in Philadelphia.[25][26] In addition to continuing as member of the board for the Soldiers and Sailors Orphan Home and the Home for the Destitute Colored Children, Still became a trustable person at Storer College.

Death, legacy and honors

Still died July 14, 1902, at his home on 726 South 19th Street in Philadelphia.[27] He was buried in Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, as would later be his wife and daughter.[28] Founded just a month before Still's death, Eden Cemetery is now the nation's oldest African-American owned cemetery, and on the National Register of Historic Places since 2010.[29] In March 2018, Still's residence of 1850–1855 was identified and placed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.[30]

Descendants

Family members donated his papers, including personal papers 1865–1899, to the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University Library, where they remain accessible to researchers.

Peter vivió (1801-1868) en Burlington Township, Nueva Jersey. El Dr. James (1812-1882) residió en Medford, Nueva Jersey. Entre los descendientes del Dr. James Still se encuentran la jugadora de baloncesto de la WNBA Valerie Still [ 31 ] y su hermano, el ala defensiva de la NFL Art Still [ 32 ] , y Devon Still , ex ala defensiva de la NFL con los Houston Texans . Durante muchos años se asumió que todos los miembros de la familia Still estaban emparentados por sangre, pero mediante investigaciones y pruebas de ADN se ha demostrado que existen diferentes descendientes de la familia Still. [ 33 ]

Red Nacional del Ferrocarril Subterráneo

En 1997, el Congreso aprobó la HR 1635, que el presidente Bill Clinton promulgó, y que autorizó al Servicio de Parques Nacionales de los Estados Unidos a establecer el programa Red Nacional del Ferrocarril Subterráneo hacia la Libertad para identificar sitios asociados y popularizar el Ferrocarril Subterráneo . [ 34 ] Esto también reafirmó la importancia nacional de Still como un agente destacado del Ferrocarril Subterráneo en un importante centro de abolición. [ 21 ]

  • El actor Robert Hooks interpretó a Still en "A Woman Called Moses" , la miniserie de 1978 basada en la vida de la abolicionista Harriet Tubman .
  • El actor Ron O'Neal interpretó una versión ficticia de Still en la miniserie de 1985, Norte y Sur .
  • Stand by the River (2003), un musical basado en la vida de Still y el rescate de Jane Johnson, fue escrito y compuesto por Joanne y Mark Sutton-Smith. Se ha representado en Nueva York y Chicago, así como en universidades y otros lugares del país.
  • El actor Chris Chalk interpretó una versión ficticia de Still en la serie dramática de época Underground , de WGN America .
  • Underground Railroad: the William Still Story es un documental independiente que se emitió por primera vez en el sistema de radiodifusión pública el 6 de febrero de 2012. [ 35 ]
  • Nkeiru Okoye escribió la ópera Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed that Line to Freedom , que incluye a Still como personaje. Se estrenó en 2014. [ 36 ]
  • El actor Leslie Odom Jr. interpretó a Still en la película Harriet de 2019 , basada en la vida de Harriet Tubman .
  • A fictional version of William Still is portrayed by Ta-Nehisi Coates in his novel The Water Dancer (2019), in which Still is represented by the character Raymond White.
  • Composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell composed an oratorio Sanctuary Road based on the writings of William Still. The oratorio premiered at Carnegie Hall in May, 2018. An opera version of Sanctuary Road premiered in Raleigh, North Carolina, in March 2022.[37] A recording is available. A video of the opera can be viewed here.[38]

See also

References

  1. ↑Turner, Dr. Diane D. "William Still's National Significance". Philadelphia: Temple University Libraries. Retrieved October 16, 2019. Born on October 7, 1821, in Burlington County, New Jersey...{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. ↑The 1900 US Census record gives November 1819.
  3. 123Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner, Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887, pp. 149–161.
  4. ↑"Family record (Catalogue of Children of Levin Still and Charity his wife)". The Peter Still Papers.
  5. ↑McGuire, William; and Wheeler, Leslie. American Social Leaders, p. 431. ABC-CLIO, 1993. ISBN 9780874366334. Accessed January 7, 2019. "William Still was born in Shamong, New Jersey, the youngest of eighteen children. Both his parents were former slaves."
  6. 12"James Still"Archived 2017-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, Still Family, Library, Temple University.
  7. ↑Kate E. R. Pickard, The Kidnapped and the Ransomed: Recollections of Peter Still and his Wife "Vina," After Forty Years of Slavery, (1856), available online at Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina.
  8. ↑"Peter Still"Archived 2014-02-04 at the Wayback Machine, Still Family, Library, Temple University.
  9. 12"William Still's National Significance | William Still: An African-American Abolitionist". Archived from the original on 2013-05-23. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  10. ↑Catalogue 1900–1901(PDF). Lincoln University. 1901. p. 74.
  11. 12345Diemer, Andrew K. (2022). Vigilance: The Life of William Still, Father of the Underground Railroad. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 9780593534380.
  12. 12Underground Railroad: The William Still Story, PBS.
  13. ↑Beisert, Oscar, and Duffin, J.M. (December 11, 2017). "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Nomination: The William & Letitia Still House, 625 S. Delhi Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147"(PDF). City of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Historical Commission. Retrieved November 26, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑"William Still, Darby, and the Desegregation of Philadelphia Streetcars", Darby History.
  15. ↑"Timeline: The Life and Times of William Still (1821-1902)"Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, William Still: an African-American Abolitionist, Library, Temple University, accessed January 16, 2017.
  16. ↑"William Still Dead.; Negro Known as 'Father of the Underground Railroad' -- Once a Slave, He Died Very Wealthy.", The New York Times, July 15, 1902. Accessed February 18, 2025.
  17. ↑Yee, Shirley J. (1992). Black Women Abolitionists: A Study in Activism, 1828-1860. Univ. of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-0-87049-736-0.
  18. ↑"Timeline: The Life and Times of William Still (1821-1902)"Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, William Still: an African-American Abolitionist, Library, Temple University, accessed January 16, 2017.
  19. 12Turner, Diane. "William Still: An African-American Abolitionist". Temple University Libraries. Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  20. 12"A brief narrative of the struggle for the rights of the Colored people of Philadelphia in the city railway cars : And a defence of William Still, relating to his agency touching the passage of the late bill : Read before a large public meeting, held in | William Still: An African-American Abolitionist". Archived from the original on 2017-03-10. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
  21. 12Turner, Diane. "William Still's National Significance"Archived 2013-05-23 at the Wayback Machine, William Still: An African-American Abolitionist, website, Temple University, accessed March 1, 2014.
  22. ↑Still, William (5 March 2005). The Underground Railroad - A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, &c., Narrating the Hardships, Hair-Breadth Escapes and Death Struggles of the Slaves in Their Efforts for Freedom, As Related by Themselves and Others, or Witnessed by the Author– via Project Gutenberg.
  23. ↑Still, William (1872). The underground rail road. A record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c., narrating the hardships, hair-breadth escapes, and death struggles of the slaves in their efforts for freedom, as related by themselves and others, or witnessed by the author; together with sketches of some of the largest stockholders, and most liberal aiders and advisers, of the road. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Philadelphia, Porter & Coates.
  24. ↑Turner, Dr. Diane D. "William Still's National Significance". Temple University Libraries. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  25. ↑Khan (2010), p. 214.
  26. ↑Chenrow, Fred; Chenrow, Carol (1974). Reading Exercises in Black History, Elizabethtown, PA: The Continental Press, Inc., p. 56. ISBN 978-0-8454-2108-6.
  27. ↑"Timeline: The Life and Times of William Still (1821-1902)". Philadelphia: Temple University Libraries. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  28. ↑"Underground Railroad (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  29. ↑"National Register of Historic Places Listings"(PDF). www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
  30. ↑Flynn, Meagan (March 22, 2018). "Underground Railroad refuge for hundreds of slaves discovered in Philadelphia". The Washington Post. This month, the Philadelphia Historical Commission unanimously voted to designate the 19th century rowhouse where Still lived and where he harbored hundreds of slaves from 1850 to 1855 as a site on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, protecting it from demolition or serious alteration.
  31. ↑Monostra, Mike (February 12, 2019). "Valerie Still living a life of significance after many years on the basketball court". The Palmyra Sun. New Jersey.
  32. ↑Davis, Merlene (January 22, 2012). "UK basketball star Valerie Still recounts slave heritage in book". Lexington Herald-Leader. Kentucky. p. 1B.
  33. ↑James P., Boyd (2017). William Still: His Life and Work To This Time. Galloway, New Jersey: South Jersey Culture & History Center. pp. vii–xiv, foreword by Samuel Still III. ISBN 978-0-9976699-5-4.
  34. ↑"Network to Freedom Homepage". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
  35. ↑"Home | Underground Railroad". Home | Underground Railroad | PBS. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
  36. ↑Thorpe, Vanessa (18 November 2018). "Opera to honour former slave who helped free others". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  37. ↑"Paul Moravec". www.paulmoravec.com. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
  38. ↑vaopera (2024-01-26). Virginia Opera's Sanctuary Road: Touring January 26-February 11. Retrieved 2025-03-10– via YouTube.

Further reading

  • Bentley, Judith. "Dear Friend" Thomas Garrett & William Still Collaborators on the Underground Railroad. New York: Cobblehill Books, 1997.
  • Blumgart, Jake (March 10, 2018). "Found in South Philadelphia, an Underground Railroad station". WHYY. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  • Diemer, Andrew K. (2022). Vigilance: The Life of William Still, Father of the Underground Railroad. Alfred A. Knopf.
  • Gara, Larry. "William Still and the Underground Railroad," Pennsylvania History 28.1 (January 1961): 33–44.
  • Kashatus, William C. William Still: The Underground Railroad and the Angel at Philadelphia, South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2021.
  • Khan, Lurey. William Still and the Underground Railroad: Fugitive Slaves and Family Ties, iUniverse, 2010, p. 40.
  • Still, William (1872). Earnest in the cause; John Needles. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates
  • Still, William. Still's Underground Rail Road Records: with a Life of the Author: Narrating the Hardships, Hairbreadth Escapes and Death Struggles of the Slaves in their Efforts for Freedom: Together with Sketches of Some of the Eminent Friends of Freedom, and Most Liberal Aiders and Advisers of the Road, Philadelphia: William Still, 1886.
  • Turner, Diane D. "William Still: An African-American Abolitionist." Temple University Libraries.

Logotipo de Wikimedia Commons Media related to William Still at Wikimedia Commons

  • Works by William Still at Project Gutenberg
  • Works by or about William Still at the Internet Archive
  • Works by William Still at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
  • The Underground Railroad at Project Gutenberg
  • "Case Studies of Maryland Freedom Seekers", Legacy of Slavery, Maryland State Archives
  • Spartacus Educational: William Still
  • The Underground Railroad: The William Still Story (documentary)
  • "The Underground Railroad: William Still". The Journal News. Lower Hudson Valley, New York. Archived from the original on February 7, 2005.