Skip to Main Content

Finding Ancestors in the Anti-Slavery Movement and Underground Railroad

Digital Collections

Explore and search the Library of Congress Digital Collections to find primary source and historical resources that you can access from any computer. The selections below highlight the types of materials available through these resources related to anti-slavery and Underground Railroad activity.

George Kendall Warren, photographer. C. F. Conly, printer. Frederick Douglass. 1876. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Search the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Online Catalog for a name, location, or subject.

Images in Library collections include ones of individual activists, such as Frederick Douglass, Wendell Phillips, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Lucretia Mott, and others.

You can also search for or browse albums and collections, such as the Civil War era Emily Howland photograph album, featuring portraits of abolitionists, politicians, soldiers and teachers.

The Library's manuscript collections provide primary source research materials related to important individuals involved in anti-slavery and Underground Railroad activity.

Abraham Lincoln Papers

Frederick Douglass Papers

Historic newspapers provide important content for historical and genealogical research.

Chronicling America

Frederick Douglass Newspapers

See Library of Congress Research Guides and Exhibits for items featured and explained in historical context by our librarians.

Exhibits

Research Guides