Born into slavery in the State of New York in 1797, Sojourner Truth’s birth name was Isabella Baumfree or Van Wagenen. She spent most of her life serving humanity in a wide range of areas, but is best known as an American abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Perhaps her greatest legacy is the speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” which she delivered in 1851 at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.
By the time she was a teenager she had been sold to three different owners, in addition to her owner at birth. Each owner expressed cruelty towards the young woman, physically, emotionally, and/or sexually. When she was about twenty years old she fell in love with a slave named Robert, who lived on a neighboring plantation. Both owners refused to allow the lovers to marry. Robert was severely beaten and the couple never met again. Later Truth was forced by her owner to marry another slave, with whom she had five children.
In 1826, after her owner reneged on freeing Truth prior to the statewide abolition of slavery in 1827, Truth escaped with her youngest child. She found refuge in the home of a Quaker family and lived with them until the New York State Emancipation Act went into effect the following year. Despite the fears of becoming once again enslaved, Truth went to battle with the court when she learned that one of her sons had been sold illegally and was being abused. Her fortitude paid off and her son was returned, this time to his mother. A few years later Truth embraced the Christian faith. Her belief later led her to accept what she believed was her God-given charge to preach abolition of slavery all around the country. It was at that point that she rejected her birth name in favor of Sojourner Truth. She told her friends and family, “The Spirit calls me, and I must go.” She began to travel and preach for the abolition of slavery. One year later, in 1844, she joined the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, located in Massachusetts. The organization supported the abolition of slavery, women’s rights, religious tolerance, and pacifism. The group was set up much like a commune, with the more than 200 members living and farming on 500 acres. She met William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass during her stay there. These were important contacts, for when she dictated her memoirs several years later Garrison offered to publish them. The memoir was entitled, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave. From her earnings as a housekeeper and perhaps from the sale of her memoirs, Truth purchased her own home that same year.
By 1851 Truth was traveling a lecture circuit with George Thompson, an abolitionist and public speaker. In May of that year she delivered her famous speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?”
In 1857 Truth moved west to Michigan, where she purchased a home. Census records indicate that one of her daughters and two grandsons had reunited with Truth. As the Civil War loomed, Truth helped to recruit black soldiers for the Union Army. By 1864 she was back on the east coast, working at the National Freedman’s Relief Association in Washington, D.C. Even as she entered what was considered at the time to be old age, she continued to reach out and assist former slaves, encourage better living conditions and employment opportunities for African-Americans, and demanded the desegregation of society. In 1866 she returned to Michigan and worked tirelessly to assist former slaves obtain land grants. She also continued to preach and lecture on abolition, women’s rights, prison reform, and capital punishment. She continued to meet with prominent political leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, and her old friend and publisher, William Lloyd Garrison. She remained active almost to the very end of her long life. Truth died in late 1883, in Michigan. Her example and legacy has continued to inform and inspire generations of people who support the cause of freedom for all.
Image: Wood, Norman B. (1897), "White Side of a Black Subject," American Publishing, Chicago, IL.
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