
Sojourner Truth
famed orator + civil rights leader
Born into slavery in upstate New York at the end of the 18th century, Sojourner Truth only spoke Dutch for the first decade of her life. That didn't stop her from becoming one of the most famous preachers and orators in the nation. Abolition + women's rights weren't just a cause. She emancipated herself at 30. And, successfully sued for the return of her kidnapped son ~ who had been sold illegally across state lines.
Sojourner spoke at Woman's Rights conventions and worked for the Freedman's Bureau. Her inspiring words are still treasured by those fighting for equality today {civil rights activist Marian Wright Edelman even wears a quote on a necklace!}.
being born into slavery | sold multiple times before escaping
public speaking + breaking into song | able to quickly weave together powerful + passionate messages through words + music
space exploration | the six-wheeled rover sent to Mars {1998} bears her name
1827 | escapes her master when he failed to honor his promise to set her free
1843 | changes her name to Sojourner Truth, speaking out to abolish slavery and ensure women's rights
1851 | her {spontaneous} landmark speech, "Ain't I A Woman," delivered at the Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio
from | to
slave | humanitarian
born on
1797
born in
Swartekill, New York
birth name
Isabella Baumfree
nickname
Belle
creating her name
Sojourner Truth
~ in 1843 | chosen by her, inspired by her spiritual beliefs ~
citizen of
slaves were not considered US citizens until 1868 | the Fourteenth Amendment defines citizenship
daughter of
Betsey
~ a slave known as Mau Mau Bett ~
James
~ a slave known as Bomefree ~
sister of
10 to 12 children
~ most of her siblings were sold as slaves ~
educated at
self-educated | Sojourner was not able to read or write
in love with
Robert
~ a slave from a neighboring farm, and Diana's father, he was sold by the estate owner to separate them ~
married to
Thomas
~ an older slave who she was forced to marry by the estate owner ~
mother of
Diana
Peter
~ at 5 years old, he was illegally sold to a man in Alabama...Isabella (her name at the time) took the issue to court making this case one of the first times a black woman successfully challenged a white man in US court ~
Elizabeth
Sophia
advocate for
freed people
women's rights
died on
November 26, 1883
~ Battle Creek, Michigan ~
image credits
collapse bio bits"I do not remember ever asking for any thing but what I got it. And I always received it as an answer to my prayers."
Narrative of Sojourner Truth | 1850
"And I'll have my child again. Oh my God! I know'd I'd have him agin. I was sure God would help me to get him. Why, I felt so tall within—I felt as if the power of a nation was with me!"
Narrative of Sojourner Truth | 1850
"That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud puddles, or gives me any place, and aren't I a woman? … I have ploughted, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me—and aren't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man (when I could get it), and bear the lash as well—and aren't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children and seen them most all sold off into slavery, and when I cried out with a mother's grief, none but Jesus heard—aren't I a woman?"
Address at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention | may 1851
"If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!"
Address at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention | may 1851
"How came Jesus into the world? Through God who created him and woman who bore him. Man, where is your part?"
Address at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention | may 1851
"And the Lord gave me Sojourner, because I was to travel up an' down the land, showin' the people their sins, an' bein' a sign unto them. Afterward I told the Lord I wanted another name, 'cause everybody else had two names: the Lord gave me Truth, because I was to declare Truth to the people."
The Libyan Sibyl | april 1863
"Children, who made your skin white? Was it not God? Who made mine black? Was it not the same God? Am I to blame, therefore, because my skin is black?"
Sabbath School Convention | june 1863
"[R]oot up, if possible, the great sin of prejudice against color from your minds."
Sabbath School Convention | june 1863
"Does not God love colored children as well as white children? And did not the same Savior die to save the one as well as the other?"
Sabbath School Convention | june 1863
"This is beautiful indeed; the colored people have given this to the head of the government, and that government once sanctioned laws that would not permit its people to learn enough to enable them to read this book. And for what? Let them answer who can."
december 1864
"It is hard for the old slave holding spirit to die. But die it must."
to Amy Kirby Post | october 1865
"There is a great stir about colored men getting their rights, but not a word about the colored women; and if colored men get their rights, and not colored women theirs, you see the colored men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before."
American Equal Rights Association | may 1867
for further reading about Sojourner Truth:
curated with care by Pauline Weger {july 2014}
video | Sojourner Truth Memorial
A brief history of Sojourner Truth, including her time in Florence, Mass., where she bought her first home and worked for 14 years as an abolitionist + women's rights activist. She left New York City, "a second Sodom," in June 1843, arriving in Springfield some time later. Sojourner became involved in the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, a utopian community dedicated to abolition and equal rights. Here, she met Frederick Douglass and abolitionist publisher William Lloyd Garrison.
WGBY | CC-BY-NC 3.0 | https://vimeo.com/37248340
advertisement | Free Lecture!
This poster was used to advertise Sojourner's speeches ~ possibly even her famous Akron, Ohio speech at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention {known as her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech, though she probably never said those words}. The time and location are blank, to be filled in as appropriate. Abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison {publisher of anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator, for which the Grimké sisters wrote} is listed as a supporter. She also advertised her cartes des visites, photographs which made up the bulk of her income.
Sojourner Truth Institute
photo | carte de visite | 1864
Sojourner sold these cards to support herself, retaining copyright on photos of herself. So many freedmen and women lived in financial straits, and Sojourner worked with the Freedman's Bureau to help create jobs. She also put forth an unsuccessful Western territory resettlement program.
National Gallery of Art | Smithsonian Institution
portrait | Lincoln Showing Sojourner the Bible Presented Him by the Colored People of Baltimore
Sojourner met with Abraham Lincoln in October 1864. According to the letter she dictated, printed in the National Anti-Slavery Standard {and reprinted in the revised editions of her autobiography}, the two shared a tête-à-tête, with mutual compliments. Lincoln autographed her scrapbook. This account is contradicted by a later recollection from Lucy Colman, Sojourner's white escort, who wrote that Lincoln was dismissive and condescending. The painting was displayed at the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition. It remained on display in Battle Creek, Mich., where Sojourner lived her last years, but was destroyed in a fire in 1902.
Sojourner Truth Institute | http://www.sojournertruth.org/_Photos/040.htm
autobiography | Narrative of Sojourner Truth | ed. Frances Tuttle | 1875 | 1883
In the 1870s, Frances Titus produced 2 revised editions of Olive Gilbert's original Narrative. These have heavily edited additions from Sojourner's scrapbook ~ her "Book of Life" ~ including speeches and letters. After her death, Titus added a memorial chapter.
Sojourner Truth Institute | http://www.sojournertruth.org/_Photos/027.htm
headstone | Battle Creek, Mich. | 1890
This original headstone was commissioned by Truth's friend and biographer Frances Tuttle, and paid for by donations. Just 25 years later, it was dilapidated and the inscription difficult to read {"In memoriam Sojourner Truth | Born a slave in Ulster Co. State of NY. In the 18 Century DIED in Battle Creek MICH. Nov. 26, 1883 AGED About 105 yrs. "Is God dead?"}. The quote is a famous question Sojourner posed to Frederick Douglass, who said God had abandoned African Americans. Was Sojourner 105 years old? Doubtful. She was most likely in her mid-80s. She claimed various ages over the years, gaining and losing decades as it suited her. Memorial groups attempted to replace the stone many times over the years, but the world events halted progress. It was finally replaced in June 1946.
Sojourner Truth Institute | http://www.sojournertruth.org/_Photos/019.htm