The Underground Railroad was perhaps the best example in U.S. history of blacks and whites working together for the common good. People of the Underground Railroad is the largest in-depth collection of profiles of those individuals involved in the spiriting of black slaves to freedom in the northern states and Canada beginning around 1800 and lasting to the early Civil War years. One hundred entries introduce people who had a significant role in the rescuing, harboring, or conducting of the fugitives―from abolitionists, evangelical ministers, Quakers, philanthropists, lawyers, judges, physicians, journalists, educators, to novelists, feminists, and barbers―as well as notable runaways. The selections are geographically representational of the broad railroad network.
There is renewed interest in the Underground Railroad, exemplified by the new National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati and energized scholarly inquiry. People of the Underground Railroad presents authoritative information gathered from the latest research and established sources, many of them from period publications. Designed for student research and general browsing, in-depth essay entries include further reading. Numerous sidebars complement the entries. A timeline, illustrations, and map help put the profiles into context.

People of the Underground Railroad: A Biographical Dictionary

Biographies & Memoirs

Calarco, Tom

Community & Culture

Greenwood

This up-to-date compilation details the most significant stops along the Underground Railroad.
 • Approximately 75 A–Z entries cover the most significant stations on the Underground Railroad 
• Illustrations and maps help readers envision routes and strategies of railroad "conductors"
• Interactive sidebars offer a firsthand glimpse into the arduous nature of Underground Railroad journeys, the decisions made, and the plans involved
• Primary source letters and diary entries detail actual incidents that took place 
• A chronology includes important events related to the Underground Railroad from the Colonial Period to the Civil War
• Suggested reading sections after each entry and a general print and nonprint bibliography act as a guide for further research

Places of the Underground Railroad: A Geographical Guide

History

Grover, Kathryn

Vogel, Cynthia

Hallstrom, Rae

Pope, Sharron L.

Thibodeaux, Melissa Waddy

Americas

Looks at the history of and participants in the Underground Railroad in the Adirondack Mountains Region in New York.

The Underground Railroad in the Adirondack Region

McFarland Publishing

The success of the Underground Railroad depended on the participation of sympathizers in hundreds of areas throughout the country, each operating independently. Each area was distinctive both geographically and societally. This work focuses on the contributions of people in the Adirondack region, including their collaboration with operatives from Albany to New York City. With more than 10 years of research, the author has been able to take what for years in northern New York was considered akin to legend and transform it into history. Abolitionist newspapers--such as Friend of Man, Liberator, Pennsylvania Freeman, Emancipator, National Anti-Slavery Standard, and the little known Albany Patriot--that were published weekly from 1841 to 1848, as well as materials from local archives, were utilized. The book has extensive maps, photographs and appendices; key contributors to the cause are identified, abolition meetings and conventions are described, and maps of the Underground Railroad stations by county are provided.

Africa

McFarland Company

During the fourteen years Sydney Howard Gay edited the American Anti-Slavery Society's National Anti-Slavery Standard in New York City, he worked with some of the most important Underground agents in the eastern United States, including Thomas Garrett, William Still and James Miller McKim. Gay's closest associate was Louis Napoleon, a free black man who played a major role in the James Kirk and Lemmon cases. For more than two years, Gay kept a record of the fugitives he and Napoleon aided. These never before published records are annotated in this book. Revealing how Gay was drawn into the bitter division between Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, the work exposes the private opinions that divided abolitionists. It describes the network of black and white men and women who were vital links in the extensive Underground Railroad, conclusively confirming a daily reality.

Secret Lives of the Underground Railroad in New York City: Sydney Howard Gay, Louis Napoleon and the Record of Fugitives

Papson, Don

McFarland

Hi-doh Hi-dee Ha-Ha: A Journey to Where Everything Is and All the Time

Children's Books

Animals

Nordel Publishing

The Underground Railroad Conductor: A Guide to Underground Railroad Site in Eastern New York and a Companion to the Underground Railroad in the Adirondack

Travel

Travel Writing

Travel Thru History

The Underground Railroad remains one of America's most ennobling true stories, and the people of Ohio played their part in this heroic endeavor. Suffering a crisis of conscience, Presbyterian minister James Gilliland left his South Carolina home for Red Oak, where he became one of the state's earliest and strongest abolitionists. Peru Township's Richard Dillingham died helping the enslaved escape bondage. In Alum Creek, three generations of the Benedict family risked life and limb doing the same. Quakers Jane and Valentine Nicholson of Clinton County carted many a fugitive to freedom, as did Wilmington Quaker Abraham Allen with his trusty Liberator wagon. Drawing on decades of research, author Tom Calarco uncovers the real tales of our nation's quest for freedom and equality for all.

The Search for the Underground Railroad in South-Central Ohio (American Heritage)

The History Press

Because of its clandestine nature, much of the history of the Underground Railroad remains shrouded in secrecy--so much so that some historians have even doubted its importance. After decades of research, Tom Calarco recounts his experiences compiling evidence to give credence to the legend's oral history in upstate New York. As the Civil War loomed and politicians from the North and South debated the fate of slavery, brave New Yorkers risked their lives to help fugitive slaves escape bondage. Whites and blacks alike worked together on the Underground Railroad, using ingenious methods of communication and tactics to stay ahead of the slave master and bounty hunter. Especially after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, conscientious residents doubled their efforts to help runaways reach Canada. Join Calarco on this journey of discovery of one of the noblest endeavors in American history.

The Search for the Underground Railroad in Upstate New York

History Press Library Editions

Because of its clandestine nature, much of the history of the Underground Railroad remains shrouded in secrecy--so much so that some historians have even doubted its importance. After decades of research, Tom Calarco recounts his experiences compiling evidence to give credence to the legend's oral history in upstate New York. As the Civil War loomed and politicians from the North and South debated the fate of slavery, brave New Yorkers risked their lives to help fugitive slaves escape bondage. Whites and blacks alike worked together on the Underground Railroad, using ingenious methods of communication and tactics to stay ahead of the slave master and bounty hunter. Especially after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, conscientious residents doubled their efforts to help runaways reach Canada. Join Calarco on this journey of discovery of one of the noblest endeavors in American history.

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