Her History
Who was Sojourner Truth?
Sojourner Truth was a nationally known advocate for justice and equality between races and sexes during the 19th century. She is honored in American history for her compelling autobiography, for innumerable speeches against slavery and for women’s rights, for her work on behalf of freedmen after the Civil War, and for her ability to keep audiences enthralled through songs and eloquent speeches.
Sojourner Truth was born an enslaved person near Kingston, New York in approximately 1797. Her given name was Isabella Baumfree. She labored for four masters and in 1826 took her freedom from John Dumont, her last owner. She soon moved to New York City, where she worked as a household helper, and then joined a millennial spiritual community, The Kingdom. When the group disbanded in scandal in 1835, she went to court and proved libel, thus preserving her reputation. She continued to work in New York City until 1843, when she felt a call from God to become a preacher. When she left New York City, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth and eventually made her way to Florence, Massachusetts.
Truth in Florence
Sojourner Truth arrived in Florence, Massachusetts (a village of Northampton) in 1843, joining the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, a utopian community dedicated to equality and justice. While the Northampton Association was a relatively short-lived experiment as a formal community, its existence gave testimony to that special human spirit which seeks to increase justice and improve society, to promote – as its founders wrote – “advancement in truth and goodness.”
While at the Association and living in Florence, Truth met many of the country’s important abolitionists: William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Frederick Douglass, and David
Ruggles. These leaders, along with Samuel L. Hill, Elisha Hammond, George W. Benson, Austin Ross, and J.P. Williston, helped establish Florence as a center of antislavery resistance. At least four former slaves who lived in Florence bought houses in the village. Several Florence homes were stops on the Underground Railroad.
After the Association disbanded, Truth remained in Florence. In 1850, she bought the lot at 35 Park Street from Samuel L. Hill for $300. By this time, she was touring widely and speaking for various reform causes, and in the same year dictated her autobiography, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, to Olive Gilbert. She paid off the mortgage for her house with the proceeds of its sales, although her speaking kept her away from Florence for months at a time.
During the time she lived in Florence and afterward, Truth made a living as a public speaker, successfully brought cases to court, marched and performed sit-ins for reform causes, petitioned Congress, met with presidents, and tried to vote in the 1872 election. She also broadened the definition of "reformer" beyond the white, educated, middle-class women who primarily made up the women’s movement. In her life and person, Sojourner Truth combined the causes of abolition, racial equality, and women’s rights, and was a significant advocate for social justice.
Truth left Florence in 1857 and eventually moved to Harmonia Community, Michigan, and then to Battle Creek, Michigan, where she died in 1883.
Download a discussion of Sojourner Truth's history in Florence.
Sojourner Truth — November 26 - The Transhistorical Body
[…] Nice resources from her home town memorial association in Battle Creek: [link] […]
Elizabeth
THERE NON WORDS TO SAY BEFORE HER BRAVERY AND ACCOMPLISH FOR THAT WOMAN DID, AT THAT TIME OF OPPRESSION WHERE WOMANS VOICE WAS CASTIGATE , FUSTIGÉ , REPRIMANDED ,SILENT AND WORTHLESS . THIS LADY WAS A WARRIOR OF WORDS TENACITY , AND FREEDOM . HER APLOMB AND PERSISTENCE IS AN EXAMPLE TO EMULATE FOR THIS GENERATION AND FUTURE INTO NON VIOLENCE OUTCOME. THANK YOU!
Leslie podell
Sojourner truth:
Hello you are providing the incorrect “Ain’t I a woman” speech. The speech you reference and the video you provide a link to was actually written by Frances Gage 12 years after the real “Ain’t I a woman speech” was given by Sojourner. Frances Gage, a white abolitionist published her speech and falsely attributed it to Sojourner.
The original speech was transcribed 12 years earlier by a reporter, Marius Robinson, and published in the Anti-Slavery Bugle. It can be referenced in the Library of Congress archives. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83035487/1851-06-21/ed-1/seq-4/
If you dig just a little deeper you will see the facts are pretty irrefutable. Here is a link to a site that compares and explains why there are two speeches and why the wrong one is attributed to Sojourner. It is important for many reasons why we re-educate the public about the original and correct speech. For one Sojourner was from upper New York and spoke english with a heavy Dutch accent. The speech that Frances Gage wrote and attributes as Sojourner‘s gives Sojourner an uneducated southern slave dialect. Why is this important? Because it is another step in the dumbing down of our nations rich and complex black history. Second it was not Sojourner’s identify. Third it helps in erasing our nations northern slave history. I could go on and on. What is important is that we rigorously provide the truth and when wrong take steps to correct them. I am asking you to please correct your mistake in providing a link to the wrong “Ain’t I a Woman” speech and at the very least make a mention and provide a video link to the correct one so your readers can be aware of both. And make their own educated conclusions.
Thank you so much for your time in reading this long email. It has been very difficult to sway the general public that something held as the truth for so long is not correct and it is time to give Sojourner back her authentic speech and voice. I am very proud that the National Woman’s History Museum, National Parks Service, The Smithsonian, Googles Doodle page and Google arts and culture page, Wikipedia and many other sites now offer the correct speech. Would you please consider doing the same?
Thank you so much.
YouTube link to Sojourner Truth’s original “Ain’t I a woman” speech.
https://youtu.be/2RAJzdxRgbc
https://youtu.be/muE0m822Lmg
https://youtu.be/sitjgGjxvwU
Website that compares and contrasts both speeches and explains why there are two speeches.
https://www.thesojournertruthproject.com
Maria
Thank YOU for this additional and correct information. It is very helpful for me as a teacher who is teaching about Sojourner Truth this year.
Catherine Sullivan
Sojourner Truth’s strength and determination were balanced with her Faith and belief in Non-Violent Solutions – she stands in the company of a small group of historical leaders who fully and completely encompassed with their entire lives the true essence of the “American Dream.” Thank you for this resource. It is the most comprehensive and well-organized resource we have found in our research for my son’s 8th Grade Project. With so many decades between the 1800s and present it is difficult for the “next generations” to understand the factors that contributed to the freedoms we now take for granted.
jason
she was a very smart person she did a right deed i like her she is cool
jason
she was a very smart person she did a right deed i like her she is cool
Mari
she is my wax museum persons
Victoria Garcia
Thank you for this I needed this for a project!
me too!
I LOIVE THIS WEBSITE
Carl
This is “HERstory” 🙂 What an incredibly brave and strong woman.
iriahan
Like it
mysticbutterfly
i am using this website for a 6th grade sojourner truth project!
Wayne Sistrunk
Great biography of sojourner truth, today is the first week of February 2021 can I use this bio to teach my children a black history fact which I do every day during the month of February to celebrate and educate.
“What would life be without his – story”
~ Wayne Sistrunk
Tonji Meredith
great lesson for my homeschool students for the Spring.
Lina Long
Thank you so very much!This will be so very helpful for my 6th grade Civil War Project!I needed 3 sources and this was my first choice!!!
livy
loved it!
Luke Ashley
Same here I’m just getting information for my project
Annalise
I’m using this website for my 8th grade Sojourner Truth project! She is such an amazing women, and definitely needs to be remember and honored.
reyanna telemaque
she was a really strong lady and many people were greatfull for her
Landmark Preservation Commission Designates Three Central Harlem Blocks ~ Let’s Take a Walk – GothamToGo
[…] are the Utopia Neighborhood Club and Sojourner Truth House. The private home at 170 West 130th Street became the Sojourner Truth House in 1920, providing […]
Paulette Kennedy
Thank you for this history lesson on Miss Truth.. I’m looking forward to see what you have for the rest of the Month.
Channah Smith
thank you needed this for Black History month project in 6th grade!!
Honors English 6th Grader
Thank you! I have a hero project which I chose her for, and this information was very helpfull!!!
sophia
i think she was such a good person and people should definetly look up to her
Karliss Rutledge
What a women
I Thank you first for your bravery, love for humanity and women’s rights Remarkable women in all aspects