William Still’s Underground Railroad Data, 1853-1861

From 1853 to 1861, nearly 1,000 enslaved freedom seekers came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to seek refuge with the Black abolitionist William Still in his capacity as a leading member of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. Although the Underground Railroad is popularly remembered as a secret communications network between enslaved people and their abolitionist allies, Still bucked this trend by maintaining extensive records of the freedom seekers who crossed paths with him. Documenting extensive data such as names, age, dates of escape, method of escape, names of enslavers, and hometowns, Still complied what is arguably the most comprehensive record of Underground Railroad activities in the United States before the Civil War. While scholars James McGowan and William C. Kashatus produced an appendix of this data in their 2021 book William Still: The Underground Railroad and the Angel at Philadelphia, Still’s data has never been made freely available online as a comprehensive dataset. This dataset updates, digitizes, and makes accessible William Still’s Underground Railroad data for scholars and students alike.