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

Fleeing for Freedom: Stories of the Underground Railroad as Told by Levi Coffin and William Still. Edited by George Hendrick and Willene Hendrick. (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2004. Pp. xiii, 209. $14.95, ISBN 978-1-56663-546-2.) Although the Underground Railroad is frequently romanticized in histories and pop culture, Fleeing for Freedom: Stories of the Underground Railroad as Told by Levi Coffin and William Still commemorates the opening of the Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a sincere attempt to present historically useful narratives. Levi Coffin, a Quaker, and William Still, a free black and secretary of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee, were key figures in the abolitionist movement, crucial coordinators of the Underground Railroad, and meticulous chroniclers of their experiences. Editors George Hendrick and Willene Hendrick lament that these narratives, "each more than seven hundred pages, are now too little read, in part because of their daunting length" (p. xi). By providing carefully selected excerpts and an annotated bibliography of related works, Fleeing for Freedom serves as a quick yet intimate look at the struggle and determination of free and enslaved blacks as well as whites who worked alongside them for the cause of abolition. The editors also provide brief biographical sketches of Coffin and Still. Aided by this succinct introduction, their work is an excellent way to access these contemporary accounts of the Underground Railroad and spark further interest. [RHONDA RAGSDALE, Rice University]