On October 22, HSP is partnering with Moonstone Arts Center to feature a panel discussion on the Pennsylvania Vigilance Committee and its Chairman William Still. Still is known as the Father of the Underground Railroad and his book, The Underground Railroad Records, documents the lives of over six hundred slaves who escaped to freedom. The story of William Still and the Pennsylvania Vigilance Committee is especially helpful for teachers looking to discuss abolition and the history of the Underground Railroad.

William Still was born in 1821 and later moved to Philadelphia in 1847. He became a prominent member of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, now called the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, and is said to have helped roughly eight hundred slaves to safety via the Underground Railroad. He even helped his own brother, whom he had never met, to safety. In addition, Still’s records and interviews of runaway slaves can be found at HSP.

If you would like to learn more about how you can use Still’s Underground Railroad records in your classroom please click here to register for the event on October 22. If you are unable to attend please feel free to email me at aparks@hsp.org for visiting options. Also, please check out our unit plan The Vigilant Committee and the Underground Railroad and our prototype digital history project based upon Still's writing.