Who is the father of the Underground Railroad?

In “Vigilance: The Life of William Still, Father of the Underground Railroad,” published in November, Diemer tells the remarkable and inspiring story of William Still, a previously unknown abolitionist who dedicated his life to managing a critical section of the Underground Railroad in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—the ...



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The Quakers are considered the first organized group to actively help escaped enslaved people. George Washington complained in 1786 that Quakers had attempted to “liberate” one of his enslaved workers.

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Harriet Tubman is perhaps the most well-known of all the Underground Railroad's conductors. During a ten-year span she made 19 trips into the South and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom. And, as she once proudly pointed out to Frederick Douglass, in all of her journeys she never lost a single passenger.

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Royal is a freeborn black man who rescues Cora from Ridgeway. Royal has an optimistic personality, and is dedicated to the pursuit of freedom both for himself and all black people. He is attractive and captivating, and the narrator notes that may people are charmed by his “exotic” demeanor.

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7 Facts About the Underground Railroad
  • The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad. ...
  • People used train-themed codewords on the Underground Railroad. ...
  • The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made it harder for enslaved people to escape. ...
  • Harriet Tubman helped many people escape on the Underground Railroad.


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In the 1700 and 1800s, major rivers were known as Freedom Roads, and if you explore the Roanoke River in Halifax County, you'll find pieces of the Underground Railroad's history still standing today.

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Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.

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Canada, one of the final safe havens for many fugitive slaves, was called the 'Promised Land' (Although Canada was the destination that many runaway enslaved individuals strived to reach, it was not the only destination for those escaping.

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The Underground Railroad was secret. Nothing was written down about where to go or who would help. So once enslaved people decided to make the journey to freedom, they had to listen for tips from other enslaved people, who might have heard tips from other enslaved people.

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She was proud of her accomplishments and in 1896 spoke at a women's suffrage convention, “I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.” Freedom was bittersweet for Harriet Tubman.

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Some enslaved people were educated in Bray schools. These schools educated enslaved people in Christian teachings. This allowed enslaved Africans to learn to read and sometimes write. Christian leaders thought that being literate was important to being a Christian.

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