Sojourner Truth (1797 – 1883)

Sojourner Truth, a formerly enslaved woman, became an advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women’s rights during the nineteenth century, eventually delivering her famous “Ain’t I a Woman,” speech in Akron, Ohio.

Born into slavery in 1797 in Ulster County, New York, Truth was originally named Isabella Bomfree. After being bought and sold four times, Truth ran away to the Van Wagener family, an abolitionist family, who bought her freedom in 1827. In 1828, Truth moved to New York City where she worked for a local minister. Fifteen years after moving, Truth declared that the Spirit called upon her to preach the truth, thus, renaming herself Sojourner Truth.

Truth met with fellow abolitionists, William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglas, where she was encouraged to deliver speeches on the evils of slavery. Later, Truth dictated what would be written in her autobiography, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. Recognition from her book allowed Truth to meet with women’s rights activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. In 1851, Truth began her lecture tour, where she delivered her “Ain’t I a Woman” speech, challenging the notions of racial and gender inequality.

During the Civil War, Truth encouraged men to join the Union cause and organized supplies for black troops. After the war ended, Truth became involved with the Freedmen’s Bureau, which helped freed slaves find jobs and build their new lives. In 1864, Truth’s Civil War work earned her an invitation to meet with President Abraham Lincoln.