Fleeing for Freedom: Stories of the Underground Railroad as Told by Levi Coffin and William Still

by Willene Hendrick (Editor)

Selected narratives from the two most important contemporary chroniclers of the Underground Railroad, Levi Coffin and William Still. Here are firsthand descriptions of the experiences of escaped slaves making their way to freedom in the North and in Canada in the years before the Civil War. A colorful yet balanced portrait. —William L. Van Deburg

Genres: History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 17, 2003

Reviews

[Hannah Maher]

I think it’s important to read about accounts of the past to understand the present. I loved reading Levi Coffin’s stories and perspective. I thought that William Still’s style of writing wasn’t my favorite but still informative.

[Tamra]

The introduction was painful to read. Seriously. An almost quote from one of the paragraphs: "They hung out in abolitionist circles. They read abolitionist newspapers. Abolitionism was very important to them." Wow. Could you insult my intelligence as a reader again, please?

The introduction is good, though, as a brief sum-up of Levi Coffin and William Still's lives. The stories later on, though, stand on their own, so you can skip the intro if you'd like (and I think you'd like).

The one real thing I gained from the intro is the fact that Rev. John Rankin's writings were boring. I read Beyond the River (which they praise in Fleeing for Freedom) and loved it. So I just assumed that Rankin's writings would be as interesting as Beyond the River was. But apparently not. And that was an interesting tidbit.

Levi's writings were fun and engaging. Fascinating stories and fascinating history.

William Still, however, didn't capture my imagination the same way. I disliked his writing style and actually didn't even finish his section. So all 3 of those stars are for Levi Coffin. In fact, I'd give his section 5 stars, and the other 2 sections (intro and Still's) drag the whole book down to 3 stars overall.

I might check out Levi Coffin's Reminiscences. It is over 700 pages long, though. Guess I better pull out my die-hard UGRR fanaticism for that one.

[Amy C.]

This book is not only great for research purposes but also great for free reads. Stories of the underground railroad were told by abolitionists Levi Coffin and William Still. What I've learned from reading this book is the secrets behind the underground railroad. Since this is a non-fiction book, there are less literary elements to pick at. However, the details and imageries captured when Coffin and Still were telling their stories really helps me understand how the underground railroad worked and why it became so successful in terms of helping many fugitive slaves escape to the north. I recommend this book to those who loves to read about slave lives and are curious about the underground railroad.

[Evette Holloway]

I am inspired from the documentary that the Out-of-the Norm presented a couple of weeks ago, to know more about a great African-American abolitionist and ex-slave who did so much to gain freedom and help others obtain theirs and even more so wrote their stories to inspire and educate those who come after!!

[kris]

This was a great historical book of the area in Washington County, New York.
Frederick Douglass was a great research project for me. I recommend this book to anyone who loves history.

[Robin]

Excellent range of stories and narratives a nice overview and what slavery was in human terms

[Olivia E]

Awesome collection of the stories compiled by Levi Coffin and William Still. I used these stories many times in my US History class.

[Mellanie C]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13136752