Truth, Sojourner

Sojourner Truth (born Isabella Baumfree; c. 1797 – 1883). An African-American abolitionist, women’s rights activist, preacher, and former enslaved person who became a prominent figure in the 19th-century United States.

Known for her powerful oratory and unwavering commitment to justice, Truth used her experiences as an enslaved woman to advocate for the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, and racial equality. Her most famous speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” delivered in 1851, remains a cornerstone of feminist and civil rights discourse.

Early Life

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery around 1797 in Ulster County, New York, to enslaved parents James and Elizabeth Baumfree, who were owned by Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh. She had at least 10 siblings, many of whom were sold away during her childhood. Truth endured harsh treatment, including physical abuse, and spoke Dutch as her first language due to her enslavement in a Dutch-settled region. In 1815, she was sold to John Dumont, under whose ownership she married another enslaved person, Thomas, and had five children, though some died in infancy.

New York began gradually abolishing slavery in 1799, with full emancipation for those born before 1799 set for 1827. However, Dumont reneged on a promise to free Truth early, prompting her escape in 1826 with her infant daughter, Sophia. She found refuge with the Van Wagenen family, who purchased her freedom for $20. Truth later sued for the return of her son Peter, who had been illegally sold to a plantation in Alabama, becoming one of the first Black women to win a lawsuit against a white man in the U.S.

Activism and Preaching

In 1843, at age 46, Isabella Baumfree experienced a religious calling, adopting the name Sojourner Truth to reflect her mission to “sojourn” and spread “truth” about abolition and God’s justice. She joined the abolitionist movement, becoming a traveling preacher and lecturer, often speaking at camp meetings, churches, and conventions. Truth aligned with prominent abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, though she occasionally clashed with Douglass over tactics, favoring nonviolence and moral persuasion.

Truth’s most iconic moment came in 1851 at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, where she delivered her extemporaneous speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” Challenging prevailing notions of gender and race, she argued, “That man over there says 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 best place! And ain’t I a woman?” The speech, later popularized in a slightly altered version by Frances Dana Gage, underscored the intersectional burdens of Black women, facing both racism and sexism.

During the Civil War (1861–1865), Truth worked for the Union Army, recruiting Black troops and collecting supplies for freedpeople. She met President Abraham Lincoln in 1864, advocating for freedmen’s rights.

After the war, she focused on racial equality, land redistribution for formerly enslaved people, and women’s suffrage, testifying before the U.S. Congress in 1870 on behalf of the Freedmen’s Bureau and supporting the Fifteenth Amendment, despite some suffragists’ opposition to prioritizing Black male voting rights.

Later Life and Legacy

Truth spent her later years in Battle Creek, Michigan, continuing to lecture and publish her narrative, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave (1850, with Olive Gilbert). She also sold photographs of herself, captioned “I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance,” to fund her activism. Despite facing poverty and health challenges, she remained a tireless advocate until her death on November 26, 1883, at age 86. She was buried in Battle Creek’s Oak Hill Cemetery.

Sojourner Truth’s legacy endures as a symbol of resilience and intersectional activism. Her speeches and writings inspired the civil rights and feminist movements, and her image appears on monuments, stamps, and public art, including a statue in Akron, Ohio. Her story is taught in schools and universities, and the Sojourner Truth Project continues to preserve her legacy through education and advocacy.

Cultural Impact

Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech has been widely anthologized and adapted, though its authenticity is debated due to variations between Truth’s original delivery and Gage’s 1863 transcription. Her life inspired numerous biographies, plays, and songs, including the hymn “Sojourner Truth’s Song” she composed. In 2014, the U.S. Treasury considered featuring her on the $10 bill, though the design ultimately honored other figures.

See Also

• Abolitionism in the United States
• Women’s suffrage in the United States
• Intersectionality
• Frederick Douglass