PRINTER'S NO. 344
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
31
Session of
2023
INTRODUCED BY HAYWOOD, DILLON, HUGHES, SAVAL, A. WILLIAMS,
KEARNEY, FONTANA AND CAPPELLETTI, FEBRUARY 21, 2023
REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, FEBRUARY 21, 2023
A RESOLUTION
Recognizing the week of February 12 through 18, 2023, as
"William Still Week" in Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, William Still was born October 7, 1821, in Shamong
Township, New Jersey, before moving to Philadelphia in 1844; and
WHEREAS, William Still was an African-American abolitionist
who, as chairman of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society's
Vigilance Committee, orchestrated Underground Railroad
activities in Philadelphia and across the country; and
WHEREAS, Between 1850 and 1855, in the wake of the Fugitive
Slave Act, which required that Northern states assist in
capturing escaped slaves, William Still and his wife Letitia
sheltered hundreds of escapees in their Philadelphia home,
including well-known figures like Harriet Tubman; and
WHEREAS, The enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law instilled
fear among Underground Railroad operatives who destroyed the
records of the escapees whom the operatives had given aid; and
WHEREAS, However, William Still continued to keep detailed
accounts of the people who passed through Philadelphia en route
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to Canada, even though the accounts implicated William Still in
unlawful activities putting his own safety and freedom in
jeopardy; and
WHEREAS, William Still is renowned for using these journals
to publish one of the only firsthand African-American penned
accounts of the movement, titled, The Underground Railroad; and
WHEREAS, William Still died on July 14, 1902; and
WHEREAS, In March 2018, the William Still House, located at
625 South Delhi Street in Philadelphia, was added to the
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places; and
WHEREAS, William Still once wrote, "The heroism and desperate
struggle that many of our people had to endure should be kept
green in the memory of this and coming generations"; therefore
be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize the week of February 12
through 18, 2023, as "William Still Week" in Pennsylvania.
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