Download the full bibliography here.

Blazer, D. N. “The History of McDonough County, Illinois.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 15 no. 3 (October 1922-January 1923): 579-591.

Burnette, Patricia B. “Two Slaves in Jacksonville.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 107. 3-4 (2014): 265-80.

Gara, Larry. “The Underground Railroad in Illinois.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 56, no. 3 (Autumn 1963): 508-523.

Glizzo, Charles A. “John Jones: A Study of a Black Chicagoan.” Illinois Historical Journal
80 no. 3 (Autumn 1987): 177-188.

Gliozzo, Charles A. “John Jones and the Black Convention Movement, 1848-1856.” Journal of Black Studies. 3 no. 3 (December 1972): 227-236.

Harrison, Victoria L. “We Are Here Assembled: Illinois Colored Conventions, 1853-1873.”
Journal Of the Illinois State Historical Society. 108 no. 3 (Fall/Winter 2015), 322-346.

Landon, Fred. “The Anderson Fugitive Case.” The Journal of Nego History, 7 no. 3 (July 1922): 233-242.

Meites, Jerome B. “The 1847 Illinois Constitutional Convention and Persons of Color.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 108 no. 3 (Fall/Winter 2015): 266-295.

Pirtle, Carol. “Andrew Borders V. William Hayes: Indentured Servitude and the
Underground Railroad in Illinois.” Illinois Historical Journal 89, no. 3 (1996): 147-160. Accessed May 1, 2022. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40193053.

Pirtle, Carol. “A Flight to Freedom: A True Story of the Underground Railroad in
Illinois.” Ohio Valley History 3, no. 1 (2003): 3-16. Accessed May 1, 2022.
https://filsonhistorical.org/archive/ovhpdfs/OVH_V3N1_Pirtle.pdf.

Prinsloo, Oleta. “‘The Abolitionist Factory:’ Northeastern Religion, David Nelson, and the Mission Institute near Quincy, Illinois, 1836-1844.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 105 no. 1 (Spring 2012) 36-68.

Ryan, John H. “A Chapter from the History of the Underground Railroad in Illinois: A Sketch of The Sturdy Abolitionist, John Hossack.” Journal of Illinois State Historical Society 8 no. 1 (April 1915), pp.23-30.


Dexter, Darrel. Bondage in Egypt: Slavery in Southern Illinois. Cape Girardeau, MO: Center for Regional History, Southeastern Missouri State University, 2011.

Foner, Eric. Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad. New York: W. W. Norton, 2015.

Gara, Larry. The Liberty Line: The Legend of the Underground Railroad. Lexington: The
University Press of Kentucky, 2013.

Hart, Richard E. Hart. 2017. Jameson Jenkins and James Blanks: African American
Neighbors of Abraham Lincoln. Springfield: Spring Creek Series.

Hart, Richard E. 2006. Lincoln’s Springfield: The Underground Railroad. Springfield:
Spring Creek Series.

Hart, Richard E. 2008. Lincoln’s Springfield: The Early African American Population of
Springfield, Illinois (1818-1861). Springfield: Spring Creek Series.

Heerman, M. Scott. The Alchemy of Slavery: Human Bondage and Emancipation in the Illinois Country, 1730-1865. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018.

LaRoche, Cheryl Janifer. Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad: The
Geography of Resistance. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2013.

Le Baron, Wm., Jr. & Co. 1878. The History of McLean County, Illinois; Portraits of Early
Settlers and Prominent Men. Chicago: W. Le Baron, Jr.

Lehman, Christopher P. Slavery in the Upper Mississippi Valley, 1787-1865: A History of Human Bondage in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., Inc., 2011

McClellan, Larry A. 2023. Onward to Chicago Freedom Seekers and the Underground
Railroad in Northeastern Illinois. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Muelder, Hermann R. 1959. Fighters for Freedom The History of Anti-Slavery Activities.
of Men and Women Associated with Knox College. New York: Columbia University Press

Muelder, Owen W. 2007. The Underground Railroad in Western Illinois. Jefferson:
McFarland & Company, Inc.

Perry, Bishop Joseph N. 2013. Father Augustus Tolton: A Brief Biography of a Faithful Priest and Former Slave. Chicago: Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.

Pirtle, Carol. 2000. Escape Betwixt Two Suns: A True Tale of the Underground Railroad
in Illinois. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

Siebert, William H. 2006. The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. Mineola:
Dover Publications, INC.

Turner, Glennette Tilley. 2001. The Underground Railroad in Illinois. Glen Ellyn:
Newman Educational Publishing.

Vandervelde, Lea. 2014. Redemption Songs Suing for Freedom before Dred Scott.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Walker, Juliet E. 1983. Free Frank A Black Pioneer on the Antebellum Frontier.
Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.


Allan Pinkerton and Joan Carfrae Pinkerton. , 1865. [United States, between ? and 1880?] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2015645636/.

Buswell Library Archives & Special Collections. Jonathan Blanchard seated with his wife Mary Avery Bent. Accessed June 27, 2024 https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/2/resources/210

Chicago History Museum. Portrait of Emma Jane Atkinson, Chicago, Illinois, 1865.
Accessed June 25, 2024. https://images.chicagohistory.org/search/?searchQuery=ICHi-021943

Chicago History Museum. Portrait of Elizabeth Anna Hudlin, Chicago, Illinois, 1881.
Accessed June 25, 2024. https://images.chicagohistory.org/search/?searchQuery=ICHi-022356

Chicago History Museum. Portrait of Isaac Atkinson, Chicago, Illinois, circa 1860-1929. Accessed June 25, 2024. https://images.chicagohistory.org/search/?searchQuery=ICHi-021952

Chicago History Museum. Portrait of Joseph Hudlin, Chicago, Illinois, circa 1850-1900.
Accessed June 25, 2024. https://images.chicagohistory.org/search/?searchQuery=ICHi-022357

Chicago History Museum. Portrait of Abolitionist Owen Lovejoy. Chicago, Illinois,
Date unknown. Accessed June 25, 2024. https://images.chicagohistory.org/search/?searchQuery=ICHi-030804

The Downers Grove Museum. Avis Blodgett. Received July 3, 2024.

The Downers Grove Museum. Israel Blodgett. Received July 3, 2024.

Edward Beecher, June 25, 2024; Illinois Collection Photograph Collection; Khalaf Al Habtoor Archives, Jacksonville, Illinois. 

Father Augustus Tolton, June 24, 2024; Quincy University’s Brenner Library, Quincy, Illinois.

Hossack Family, Marj Weir, Photograph. Circa 1888 Received June 27, 2024.

Ingmire, F. W, photographer. President Lincoln’s horse, Old Robin / F.W. Ingmire, photographic artist, City Gallery, West Side of Public Square, Springfield, Ill. Illinois Springfield, 1865. [Springfield, Ill.: s.n] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2010647710/.

“James Lemen, Sr.,” Chronicling Illinois, accessed August 8, 2024,
https://www.chroniclingillinois.org/items/show/29675.

John and Mary Jones, Dr. Bruce Purnell, Photograph. Circa. 1840 Received June 26, 2024.

Jonathan Baldwin Turner, June 25, 2024; Illinois Collection Photograph Collection; Khalaf Al Habtoor Archives, Jacksonville, IL. 

Lucy McWorter. Gerald McWorter Family, Photograph. Received July 12, 2024.

People – Kelly, Isaac H. (1825-1920), [object Object] (Illinois Digital Archives), 2024-06-27, http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/p16614coll61/id/5547. Rev. David Nelson, M.D. 1793-1844, Quincy Area Historic Photo Collection (Illinois Digital Archives), 2024-06-17, http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/qpl/id/3114.

Peoria Historical Socie. Lucy Pettengill. Accessed July 2, 2024. https://www.peoriahistoricalsociety.org/PhotoDetails_iframe.aspx?ppid=1F2D3735-FC50-4CB0-9235-809681910044&Med=1&query=lucy+pettengil&parent=Graphic+Documents

Peoria Historical Society. Moses Pettengill. Accessed July 2, 2024. https://www.peoriahistoricalsociety.org/PhotoDetails_iframe.aspx?ppid=ADEFA12A-256B-473B-B373-257912654400&Med=1&query=moses+pettengil&parent=Graphic+Documents

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. “A group of refugee settlers, of Windsor, Ontario” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47db-bc3b-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. “H. O. Wagoner” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47da-72e0-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. “Samuel Harper and wife, of Windsor, Ontario, the two survivors of the company of slaves abducted by John Brown from Missouri in the winter of 1858-1859.” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 14, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-ff98-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. “Rt. Rev. Wm. Paul Quinn. Senior Bishop A. M. E. Church, 1848-1873. The Pioneer.” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47da-7659-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Simeon, Alexander and Thomas Clark. Sandra McWorter Marsh and the White-Wells Family Collection. Photograph. Received July 12, 2024.

Solomon McWorter. Gerald McWorter Family, Photograph. Received July 12, 2024.

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. “John Anderson, the fugitive slave in Canada.” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 27, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-4da6-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Wisconsin Historical Society, Creator Unknown, Caroline Quarlls Watkins, 52619. Viewed online at https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM52619.