Black Excellence: William Still
William Still
1821-1902
William Still was born in Burlington County, New Jersey. His father, Levin Steel, had been enslaved, purchased his own freedom, and changed his name to Still to protect his wife, Sidney. Mrs. Still had tried to escape once before she succeeded, but could only bring two of her children with her. William Still had little formal education, but studied whenever he could. In 1844, William moved to Philadelphia.
https://www.aaihs.org/the-times-requires-this-testimony-william-stills-the-underground-railroad
William Still, the leader of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society (PAS) Vigilance Committee, kept meticulous records on the hundreds of women and men he helped escape slavery. Maintaining these records was no small risk. They were dangerous evidence of highly illegal activity in a nation whose fault lines fractured along the boundaries of slavery and where the territoriality of slave law extended far beyond its geographical boundaries through the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 (and that of 1793).1 Still collected information from freedom seekers as he helped usher them toward the relative safety of the North and Canada. Despite the dangers of keeping this evidence, Still hoped that doing so would help with familial reunions in the future. When not in use, he kept these journals safely hidden in a barn at a cemetery. After the Civil War, these records would become the basis for Still’s book, The Underground Railroad, first published in 1872.