In the 19th century, the Underground Railroad was a vital collective effort to aid fugitive slaves in their flight to freedom. In early 1856, William Still, by that point perhaps the organisation’s most important figure, penned an extensive letter to a friend and ally in Canada named Mary Ann Shadd, in which he reflected on his work. “In a few words, let me say that the Underground Railroad cause is increasing,” he wrote, in a letter that would be subsequently published in Shadd’s Provincial Freeman. “The slaves, from the youngest to the oldest, have of late years got a thirst for liberty, and they are bound to have it, come what may.” Much of the work of the Underground Railroad was, out of necessity, secret, but by the late 1850s, Still was confident – not just in the justice of the struggle against slavery, but in its inevitable triumph. He was not afraid to tell the world about it.
EARLY LIFE
Still was the youngest of 18 children, born in 1821 to parents who had both been enslaved in the state of Maryland. His father, Levin, was able to save enough money over the years to purchase his freedom. Still’s mother, Sidney, however, was unableand Levin settled in a remote, rural area of the free state of New Jersey. William Still was born many years after this escape from bondage, but he grew up with a clear understanding of the damage that slavery had done to his family.
