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1Underground Railroad, Part 1

By William Still

”It was my good fortune to lend a helping hand to the weary travelers flying from the land of bondage.” William Still.<br><br> "Dear Sir:—For most of the years I have lived, the escape of fugitives from slavery, and their efforts to baffle the human and other bloodhounds who tracked them, formed the romance of American History. That romance is now ended, and our grandchildren will hardly believe its leading incidents except on irresistible testimony. I rejoice that you are collecting and presenting that testimony, and heartily wish you a great success." Horace Greeley.<br><br> William Still is often called the Father of the Underground Railroad. Over 14 years, he helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom in Canada. Still was committed to preserving the stories of the bondmen and he kept careful records of the many escaped slaves who passed through the Philadelphia “station”. The Underground Railroad was published in 1871 from Still’s records and diaries. In bringing you these stories, Librivox volunteers are reading from the 1878 edition. (Summary by MaryAnn) <br /><br />Complete list of recordings comprising this book: <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-1-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 1</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-2-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 2</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-3-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 3</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-4-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 4</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-5-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 5</a>.

2Underground Railroad, Part 2

By William Still

"This is one of the most remarkable volumes of the century. Its publication has only been made possible by a combination of circumstances which seldom attend the birth of a book. Before emancipation, and while the bane of slavery was on the country, the thrilling facts of this volume could not have been made public. Peace and the blessing of freedom permit their publication, free circulation and unmolested reading.<br><br>Of all the thousands who favored freedom for the slaves, who gloried in the odium attached to anti-slaveryism, who witnessed the frequent efforts of the bondsmen to escape, who aided them in their quest for liberty, few dared to take notes of what they witnessed, and fewer still dared to preserve them, lest they should be turned into witnesses against them.<br><br>But one man, and that the author of this book, is known to have succeeded in preserving anything like a full account of the workings of the UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, as it was called before emancipation. These records grew on his hands during the years he acted as Chairman of the Philadelphia Branch of that celebrated corporation, until they reached the extent of the present volume. They are made up of letters received, of interviews held, of narratives taken down at the time, of real reminiscence and authentic biography. Nothing imaginative enters into the composition of the volume. It is simply succinct history, always startling, sometimes bloody. The annals of no time since the Inquisition are so full of daring ventures for life and liberty or heroic endurance under most trying circumstances." (from the Publisher)<br><br>William Still is often called the Father of the Underground Railroad. Over 14 years, he helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom in Canada. Still was committed to preserving the stories of the bondmen and he kept careful records of the many escaped slaves who passed through the Philadelphia “station”. The Underground Railroad was published in 1871 from Still’s records and diaries. In bringing you these stories, Librivox volunteers are reading from the 1878 edition. (Summary by MaryAnn) <br /><br />Complete list of recordings comprising this book: <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-1-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 1</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-2-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 2</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-3-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 3</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-4-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 4</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-5-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 5</a>.

3Underground Railroad, Part 3

By William Still

"Never before has the working of the Underground Railroad been so thoroughly explained. Here we have in complete detail the various methods adopted for circumventing the enemies of freedom, and told, as it is, with great simplicity and natural feeling, the narrative is one which cannot but make a deep impression. Thrilling incidents, heroic adventures and noble deeds of self-sacrifice light up every page, and will enlist the heartiest sympathies of all generous souls. It was eminently just that such a record of one of the most remarkable phases of the struggle against slavery should be prepared, that the memory of the noble originators and supporters of the railroad might be kept green, and posterity enabled to form a true conception of the necessity that called it into existence, and of the difficulties under which its work was performed. The labor of compiling could not have fallen into more appropriate or better qualified hands." The Philadelphia Inquirer <br><br>William Still is often called the Father of the Underground Railroad. Over 14 years, he helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom in Canada. Still was committed to preserving the stories of the bondmen and he kept careful records of the many escaped slaves who passed through the Philadelphia “station”. The Underground Railroad was published in 1871 from Still’s records and diaries. In bringing you these stories, Librivox volunteers are reading from the 1878 edition. (Summary by MaryAnn) <br /><br />Complete list of recordings comprising this book: <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-1-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 1</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-2-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 2</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-3-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 3</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-4-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 4</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-5-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 5</a>.

4Underground Railroad, Part 4

By William Still

"The work is intensely interesting. Many of the narratives thrill the reader through and through. Some of them awaken an indignation, a horror, or a sense of humiliation and shame that makes the blood curdle or the cheek flush, or the breathing difficult. The best and the worst sides of human nature are successfully exhibited. Here heroism and patience stand out transfigured; there selfishness and brutality hold carnival till it seems as though justice had been exiled and God had forgotten his own. The number of cases reported is very large, and the method in which the author has done his work is commendable. There is no rhetorical ambition. The narratives are embodied in plain language. The facts are left to make their own impression, without an attempt to embellish them by the aid of imagination." From the "Morning Star," Dover, New Hampshire. <br><br> William Still is often called the Father of the Underground Railroad. Over 14 years, he helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom in Canada. Still was committed to preserving the stories of the bondmen and he kept careful records of the many escaped slaves who passed through the Philadelphia “station”. The Underground Railroad was published in 1871 from Still’s records and diaries. In bringing you these stories, Librivox volunteers are reading from the 1878 edition. (Summary by MaryAnn) <br /><br />Complete list of recordings comprising this book: <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-1-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 1</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-2-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 2</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-3-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 3</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-4-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 4</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-5-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 5</a>.

5Underground Railroad, Part 5

By William Still

"I congratulate you that, after much patient research, careful preparation, and untiring labor, you have completed your voluminous work on "THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD." I am sure your work will be found to be <i>one of absorbing interest, worthy of the widest patronage, and historically valuable as pertaining to the tremendous struggle for the abolition of chattel slavery in our land. No phase of that struggle was so crowded with thrilling incidents, heroic adventures, and self-sacrificing efforts as the one you have undertaken to portray, and with which you were so closely connected, to wit:</i> "THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD." While it will be contemplated with shame, sadness, and astonishment, by posterity, it will serve vividly to illustrate the perils which everywhere confronted the fugitives from the Southern "house of bondage," and to which those who dared to give them food and shelter were also subjected." Wm. Lloyd Garrison <br /><br /> William Still is often called the Father of the Underground Railroad. Over 14 years, he helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom in Canada. Still was committed to preserving the stories of the bondmen and he kept careful records of the many escaped slaves who passed through the Philadelphia “station”. The Underground Railroad was published in 1871 from Still’s records and diaries. In bringing you these stories, Librivox volunteers are reading from the 1878 edition. (Summary by MaryAnn) <br /><br />Complete list of recordings comprising this book: <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-1-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 1</a><br /> <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-2-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 2</a><br /> <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-3-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 3</a><br /> <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-4-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 4</a><br /> <a href="http://librivox.org/the-underground-railroad-part-5-by-william-still/" rel="nofollow">The Underground Railroad, Part 5</a>.