Peter Still, William Still’s brother, was sold into slavery in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, at Cheapside and was purchased by John Fisher, a brickmaker who created and sold the bricks that built parts of our city. Peter's brother, Levin, Jr., was also sold at Cheapside to an Alabama plantation owner. Still’s descendants Valerie Still and Art Still became prominent student athletes at the University of Kentucky.

Source material for the libretto comes directly from William Still’s text in The Underground Railroad Records with stories about Sarah Grace, Ellen Craft, Clarissa Davis, Wesley Harris, Talbot Johnson, Barnaby Grigby, Isaac Jackson, Samuel Green, Cordelia Loney, Emeline Chapman, Charlotte Giles, and more.