Type: Exhibition case

Name: African Americans in New Jersey before the Civil War

Detail: A large and vibrant African-American community lived in New Jersey before the Civil War. On the eve of the conflict, the black population was 25, 336 out of a total of 646,699. Years after the abolition of slavery, African Americans still lacked legal and political rights. The new state constitution of 1844 restricted voting to white male citizens. African Americans in New Jersey also faced poverty, job discrimination, and racism. The Fugitive Slave Bill subjected escapees from the South to deportation. During the tense period leading up to the conflict, African-American community leaders emerged to play important roles in the abolition movement and the Underground Railroad.

Type: Exhibition caption

Detail: Born a slave in Maryland in 1801, Peter Still was later sold to an Alabama slaveholder. By 1850, he had accumulated enough money to purchase his own freedom and head north, but he had to leave his wife, Vina, and children behind. In Philadelphia, he visited the Anti-Slavery Office in the hope of locating his parents and relatives, who years before had escaped to New Jersey. To his surprise, the clerk in the office was his brother William Still. In this letter from William Still describes their meeting: “my feelings became unutterable.”