To those on the outside, the gathering at the home of Clarence Still in Lawnside, N.J. might look like just another weekend celebration. But for the hundreds who attend the Still Family Reunion it means much more. Each year, close to 400 extended family members reunite to celebrate the legacy of one of the nation’s most prominent African-American families. William, one of the Still family’s most notable patriarchs, was an abolitionist, a conductor on the Underground Railroad and one of Philadelphia’s first successful businessmen. The event is a high-profile example of the importance of family reunions in African-American culture, a phenomenon Temple Professor Emeritus Ione Vargus has been studying for more than 25 years.