Most well-known as a conductor on the Underground Railroad and author of his account of the Underground Railroad, "The Underground Railroad Records". Still was also a businessman, philanthropist, and life-long civil rights activist. His book, "A Brief Narrative of the Struggle for the Rights of Colored People of Philadelphia in the City Railway Cars", describes efforts to desegregate Philadelphia streetcars. As the head of the Knights of Pythian lodge, Still provided support for Catto's baseball team. His daughter, Caroline Still (1848-1919) was an early graduate of Women's Medical College and became a pioneering medical doctor, working at Tuskegee Institute....

Mercer is the first African American to be elected to public office in the United States. In 1854, he became the first African American lawyer in Ohio. Mercer was an abolitionist, educator and politician/diplomat. He and Catto worked together in the National Equal Rights League (NERL), a national network of activists working to extend black rights and suffrage in Northern states after the Civil War. Mercer led the NERL in 1864. Catto served as secretary of the Pennsylvania chapter, which extended his network of associated across the country. Mercer became head of Howard Law School. At Catto's death, he...