SOJOURNER TRUTH (1797-1883)
Sojourner Truth, born Isabella Baumfree, was a formerly enslaved woman who became an outspoken advocate for abolition and women’s rights in the 19th century. She is best known for her speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?”
Truth was born into slavery and sold four times, often subjected to harsh physical labor and violent punishments. Truth had 5 children, her first died in childhood, the second was the result of being raped by her enslaver, and the remaining three children with a male slave she was forced to unite with.
In 1826, she ran away with her infant child to a nearby abolitionist family who bought her freedom for $20. They helped Truth successfully sue for the return of her 5 year old son, Peter, who was illegally sold into slavery in Alabama. The case was one of the first in which a Black woman successfully challenged a white man in a United States court.
By the 1830’s Truth had moved to New York City and began participating in the religious revivals that were sweeping through her area. She became a charismatic speaker and, during a spiritual awakening in 1843, changed her name to Sojourner Truth, declaring that the Spirit called on her to preach the truth.
Truth never learned to read or write, but was able to dictate what would later become her autobiography, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. She survived on the sales of the book, which also brought her national recognition.
In 1851, Truth attended the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, where she delivered her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech. In it, she challenged the prevailing notions of racial and gender inferiority. For most of her remaining life, Truth continued to travel the United States to speak on matters relating to the rights of African Americans and women, including the right to vote.
During the Civil War, Truth helped recruit African American men for the Union Army. In 1864, she worked for the National Freedmen’s Relief Association in Washington, D.C., where she met President Abraham Lincoln. While in Washington, she traveled on public streetcars in support of their desegregation.
Although Truth began her career as an abolitionist, the reform causes she sponsored were broad and varied, including prison reform, property rights and universal suffrage.
Truth died in 1883 at the age of 86.
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