Underground Railroad-The William Still Story

Underground Railroad: The William Still Story tells the dramatic story of William Still, one of the most important yet largely unheralded individuals of the Underground Railroad. Still was determined to get as many runaways as he could to "Freedom’s Land,” smuggling them across the US border to Canada.  Bounty hunters could legally abduct former slaves living in the so-called free northern states, but under the protection of the British, Canada provided sanctuary for fugitive slaves.

You will explore the journey of William Still and answer questions about the Underground Railroad.  Follow the links provided to complete the assignment.

I.  William Still Story

Watch the segment on William Still

II.  Underground Railroad

1. Watch the Underground Railroad: The William Still Story segments.

2.  Students should fill out the Underground Railroad Worksheet while watching program segments.

3. Then using the map, imagine you are slaves and plot out their escape route to Canada.  Draw an arrow line of the path of a fugitive slave escaping from a plantation in Mississippi, stopping in Philadelphia (where William Still resided), and on to Canada.

4. Using Google Maps, plot an escape route. Use the routes that are provided:(Use different colors to plot the different routes)

- Start in Montgomery, Alabama; go through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, stopping in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

- Start in Richmond, Virginia; go through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, stopping in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

- Start in Savannah, Georgia; go through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, stopping in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

- Start in Jackson, Mississippi; go through Detroit, Michigan, stopping in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

III.  Social Media and the Underground

1. Watch the Underground Railroad: The William Still Story segment on the importance of recording and publishing history. Have students complete the Recording History Worksheet while watching the segment.

2. Complete the Public vs. Private Double T-chart. Think about ways in which we record information personally and publicly (journals, diaries, sketchbooks, internet/social media, television, newspapers). Take note of those methods that would have been around in 1850 (journal, newspapers) as opposed to those around today (internet/social media, television).

IV. Heroism and Leadership

1.  Watch the Underground Railroad: The William Still Story segment regarding heroism and leadership.

2.  Complete the Heroism and Leadership Venn Diagram including 3-5 examples in each category.

3.  Using the information from your Venn Diagram and worksheet, write a comparison essay of a leader or hero in their life and compare them to William Still (common traits/characteristics).

V.  Follow or not to Follow

1. Watch the Underground Railroad: The William Still Story segments on the Fugitive Slave Act.

2.  Complete the questions on Follow or not to Follow.

VI.  Hidden Message in Spirituals

1. Watch the Underground Railroad: The William Still Story segments on spirituals.

2. Spirituals are different from hymns and psalms because they were a way of sharing the hard condition of being a slave. 

3. Listen to the song "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"

4. Fill out the Coded Lyrics Worksheet  while listening to the song.

William Still was a humble Philadelphia clerk who risked his life shepherding runaway slaves to freedom in the tumultuous years leading up to America’s Civil War.  Still was the director of a complex network of abolitionists, sympathizers and safe houses that stretched from Philadelphia to what is now Southern Ontario.  In his fourteen years in the service of the Underground Railroad, he helped nearly eight hundred former slaves to escape.

Still kept meticulous records of the many escapes slaves who passed through the Philadelphia "station."  After the Civil War, Still published the secret notes he’d kept in diaries during those years.  And to this day, his book contains some of the best evidence we have of the workings of the Underground Railroad, detailing the freedom seekers who used it, including where they came from, how they escaped and the families they left behind.