Still William

First published in 1925. There is only one Just William. The loveable imp has been harassing his unfortunate family and delighting hundreds of thousands of readers for years. Here, lisping, frilly-dressed Violet Elizabeth becomes William's worst nightmare. Not only does she expect him to play fairies - she even expects him to kiss her.

From award-winning author-illustrator Don Tate comes a remarkable picture book biography of William Still, known as Father of the Underground Railroad. William Still's parents escaped slavery but had to leave two of their children behind, a tragedy that haunted the family. As a young man, William went to work for the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, where he raised money, planned rescues, and helped freedom seekers who had traveled north. One day, a strangely familiar man came into William's office, searching for information about his long-lost family. Could it be? Motivated by his own family's experience, William Still began collecting the stories of thousands of other freedom seekers. As a result, he was able to reunite other families and build a remarkable source of information, including encounters with Harriet Tubman, Henry "Box" Brown, and William and Ellen Craft. Award-winning author-illustrator Don Tate brings to life the incredible, true story of William Still, a man who dedicated his life to recording the stories of enslaved people fleeing to freedom. Tate's powerful words and artwork are sure to inspire young readers in this first-ever picture book biography of the Father of the Underground Railroad.

William Still coordinated the Eastern Line of the Underground Railroad and was a pillar of the Railroad as a whole. Based in Philadelphia, Still built a reputation as a courageous leader, writer, philanthropist, and guide for fugitive slaves. This monumental work details Still's life story beginning with his parents' escape from bondage in the early nineteenth century and continuing through his youth and adulthood as one of the nation's most important Underground Railroad agents and, later, as an early civil rights pioneer. Still worked personally with Harriet Tubman, assisted the family of John Brown, helped Brown's associates escape from Harper's Ferry after their famous raid, and was a rival to Frederick Douglass among nationally prominent African American abolitionists. Still's life story is told in the broader context of the anti-slavery movement, Philadelphia Quaker and free black history, and the generational conflict that occurred between Still and a younger group of free black activists led by Octavius Catto.

William Grant Still (1895-1978) dreamed of a world in which his eight operas--for him the ultimate form of musical expression--would be heard in the major opera houses in the United States, devoting most of his career toward the pursuit of this goal. The first part of I Dream a World creates a context for Still's operas and explores commonalities among them, including structural elements and musical characteristics. The second part traces the research, composition, and perform-ances of the operas as a way of documenting the history of the composer and his contributions to American opera. Although I Dream a World is not intentionally biographical, it is very pers-onal. It is more than the story of William Grant Still's love of operatic music, of the libretti that reflect his own life and philosophy, and of the world he dreamed through his work. It opens a window on Still the man as well as on Still the composer that offers important insights into the social milieu of this pioneering figure.

A selection of pastoral letters to his people at Gilcomston South Church of Scotland, Aberdeen, where the author ministered for more than fifty years.

Everyone's favourite troublemaker is back in Richmal Crompton's William the Bad – with a fun and contemporary cover illustrated by Chris Garbutt and an introduction by writer Anne Fine. William doesn't understand why he's not invited to Robert and Ethel's fancy-dress party – what could possibly go wrong? Desperate for an invite, his search for the perfect costume causes mayhem. Somehow nothing ever goes to plan when William the Bad is around! There is only one William. This tousle-headed, snub-nosed, hearty, lovable imp of mischief has been harassing his unfortunate family and delighting his admirers since 1922. Enjoy more of William's adventures in William's Happy Days and William Again.

Presenting the life and professional career of The Dean of Afro-American Composers, this is the first comprehensive book on the writings by and about Still, the compositions with manuscript sources, the performances of Still's works, and the reviews of those performances. It includes a touching personal reminiscence by his daughter Judith Anne. The full resources of the extensive collection known as The William Grant Still and Verna Arvey Papers at the University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, give this book the distinction of being the first one about Still that utilizes diaries, letters, scrapbooks, and family papers to provide information on his works and performances. Still performed, composed, and arranged in the commercial music field before he began to write orchestral works and opera. He is called the Dean of Afro-American Composers because of his pioneering efforts on behalf of American music and his achievements as an African American. Still was the first African American to write a symphony that was performed by a major symphony orchestra in the United States, the first to conduct a major symphony orchestra, the first to conduct a major symphony in the Deep South, the first to direct a white radio orchestra, the first to have an opera produced by a major company, and the first to have an opera televised over a national network. His career tells an important story about the development of an American style of music.

William Still was an African-American abolitionist in Philadelphia, Underground Railroad conductor, prominent businessman, and historian. In 1847, the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery hired him as clerk. With the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, he became Chairman of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee, which supported and aided fugitives from slavery. William Still recognized the importance of recording slave narratives in order to help reunite families. Between 1850 and the onset of the Civil War, William Still, sometimes with help, interviewed approximately 800 fugitive slaves who were passing through Philadelphia. The longer and more detailed narratives of freedom-seekers are included in this volume, representing the escape experiences of about 150 former slaves. These freedom-seeker narratives also are indexed by location of escape, escape method, and escape destination. Most of the fugitive slaves that escaped with help of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee came from the District of Columbia and slave-holding coastal states, including Delaware, Maryland, North and South Carolina, and Virginia, but the book also includes accounts of escapes from Mississippi and Missouri.Since most of these escapes came from coastal states, many fugitives reached Philadelphia hidden away on cargo ships. But numerous other escape methods were employed, including small boats, horses and carriages, impersonation, official documents, hidden in boxes and chests, trains, and by walking. Escape destinations included various locations in Canada, England, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. These personal narratives describe life under slavery, occasionally benign but more often unspeakably cruel, and the often desperate attempts to secure freedom.