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Antislavery in the United States 1776-1865:
A Pathfinder
Main Page | Antislavery | Biographical Sources | Libraries & Historical Societies | Timelines | The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad
Books
Bordewich, Fergus M. Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America.
New York : Amistad, 2005.
Bordewich provides a great narration about the major players of the Underground Railroad. The Selected Bibliography
lists additional resources on the topic. A major flaw with this work is the lack of numbered endnotes. Bordewich does site his resources
in the Notes section. Instead of using a numbered endnote, the author lists the page number, the text on that page
where an endnote should be located, and the sources used. Footnote and endnote chasers may find this method annoying. Overall,
Bound for Canaan is a good introduction to the workings and the major personalities involved in the Underground
Railroad.
Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. The Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Operations.
Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2008.
This two volume resource is a good first step in locating Underground Railroad information. The
Introduction provides a three page overview of the Underground Railroad. The Table of Contents
lists the entries, which are arranged alphabetically. The Index in Volume 2 serves as another means to locate information within this encyclopedia.
Each entry ranges in length from one paragraph to a few pages. Sources are listed at the end of each entry which will serve
to provide you with additional information about the topic. Most entries are about individuals involved in the
Underground Railroad, but there are some entries that cover a topic related to the UR.
The Underground Railroad also provides many additional features. Several maps are available in Volume One. Volume Two contains a Chronology of the Underground Railroad. An excellent Primary Source Bibliography and Secondary Source Bibliography provide listings of additional resources to use in learning more about the UR. Appendix A contains genealogies of people involved in the Underground Railroad. Appendix B titled Passengers of the Underground Railroad lists “passengers,” their date of flight, the place they fled, and their destination. Appendix C: Underground Railroad Operatives by State and Province lists “conductors” of the UR, their “station”, and their religion. Overall, The Underground Railroad is a great resource to consult when beginning your research on the UR, or when you need a quick answer about the topic.
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Websites
Black Heritage Trail - Museum of African American History Boston
This site is an online tour of the Black Heritage Trail of Boston. Included is information about John J. Smith, Lewis & Harriet Hayler, and John Coburn, all of whom assisted fugitive slaves.
Born in Slavery: Slave narratives from the Federal Writer’s Project, 1936-1938
The Library of Congress maintains this digital library containing recollections from former slaves about their lives.
Narratives by Caroline Hammond, Ellen Cragin, and Adah Isabelle Suggs include first and second-hand accounts of escaping slavery.
Beneath the Underground: The Flight to Freedom
The
Maryland State Archives maintains this resource providing information about the Underground Railroad within
Maryland, as well as the consequences runaway slaves faced after being captured.
The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed
A good starting point for locating information about people involved in the Underground Railroad.
Black-White Relations on Nantucket by Robert Johnson
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2002 issue of Historic Nantucket. The article is an overview of race relations in Nantucket and provides some information regarding the island’s antislavery movement and fugitive slaves.
Brookline Underground Railroad Committee
This web site authored by the Brookline Massachusetts Underground Railroad Committee contains information about
Brookline’s role in the Underground Railroad, the anti-slavery movement, and the Civil War. Links to Underground Railroad sites are
also provided.
Documenting the American South
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries maintains this website containing resources
pertaining to the South. Included in this collection are digitized books and pamphlets regarding slavery, the
antislavery movement, runaway slaves, and the Underground Railroad.
Freedmen and Southern Society Project
The
University of Maryland College Park History Department maintains this website containing several documents about
fugitive slaves and a
Chronology of Emancipation.
Hathi Trust Digital Library
This digital repository makes available collections from numerous research libraries. Use the
Catalog for locating
items about the Underground Railroad.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
One may search the Society’s Online Catalogs for items pertaining to
the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania. Also see Journal C of Station No. 2 of the Underground Railroad, Agent William Still, 1852-1857, located in the Society’s Online Collections page. The Society also maintains Abolition, Anti-Slavery, and The Underground Railroad,
an excellent educational guide for teachers, students, and anyone looking for some introductory topics in Pennsylvania’s Underground Railroad activities.
Internet Archive
This digital library provides a gateway to online books and documents.
Making of America (MOA) - Joint venture between Cornell University and the University of Michigan.
This digital library contains scanned images of US primary sources from 1850 to 1877. A good amount of material pertaining to antislavery sentiment, fugitive slaves, and the
Civil War can be found in this site. The Cornell version focuses on popular journals of the time, but also contains the War of the Rebellion series.
The University of Michigan version focuses on books/monographs.
Modern History Sourcebook: The Fugitive Slave Act, September 18, 1850
In response to the success of the Underground Railroad assistance to slaves, Congress passed the
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This site contains the text of this law. This site is part of Fordham University’s Internet Modern History Sourcebook.
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
This organization, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, studies the past, present, and future struggles in
freedom. This site provides a Scholar’s Corner and Resources listing sources that provide more information on the topic.
North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association (NCUGRHA)
A good starting point for those interested in the Underground Railroad in the area between Albany New York and the Canadian border. The NCUGRHA site provides maps, history, and sources for
additional information.
Ohio Historical Society Underground Railroad Information Station
A good starting point for those interested in Ohio’s Underground Railroad in the area between Albany New York and the Canadian border. Historical sites of interest and tips to locate sources for
additional information are provided.
Seeking Freedom in Nineteenth-Century America
This article by Shelia Sibley describes an exhibit by the same title at the Newton History Museum (Newton, Massachusetts). The exhibit includes the abolitionist movement and the Museum’s Jackson Homestead,
which served as an Underground Railroad station.
Slaves and the Courts 1740-1860
This digital library is part of the Library of Congress American Memory project. The collection contains full texts of books and pamphlets
on the legal issues of slavery. Several fugitive slave cases are
represented in this collection, as are John Quincy Adams, Anthony Burns, Charles G. Davis, William Lloyd Garrison, Edward Greely Loring, Wendell Phillips, Theodore Parker, and Jonathan Walker.
The Study of the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland
This site is maintained by the Maryland State Archives. Although it focuses on slavery in Maryland,
the site contains William Still’s 1872 work, titled Underground Rail Road: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, etc,
which contains some information on the Underground Railroad in other states. This site also has other recommended sources.
The Underground Railroad in New York State
This website provide a brief into to the Underground Railroad in New York. New York History Net maintains this resource.
Virginia Runaways
This site contains runaway slave advertisements from Virginia newspapers from the 1730s to the 1770s.
Thomas Costa, Professor of History at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, created and maintains this resource.
See also Anthony Burns, David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Leonard Black, Thomas H. Jones, David Ruggles Thomas Sims, William Wells Brown.
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