This was a system of a secret safe house and hiding places to aid runaway slaves to escape was called

Underground railroads

Explanation:

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to mid-19th century, and used by enslaved African-Americans to escape into free states and Canada. The scheme was assisted by abolitionists and others sympathetic to the cause of the escapees.

usually her father was the one that controlled it after the death of the husband

b.unemployment reached nearly 25 percent.