Sojourner Truth is one of the most enduringly popular American nineteenth-century historical figures. Born into slavery from which she was not released until she was thirty years old, Sojourner Truth, uneducated and illiterate, is remembered for the enormous power and influence of her oratory. Her 1851 " Ar'n't I a Woman"" speech delivered at a women's conference in Akron, Ohio, is regarded as a masterly expression of feminist thought and contributes to her image as a near-mythical symbol of African American womanhood. She embroiled herself in the great struggles of her century--abolition, women's rights, and Reconstruction--drawing force from the strength of her religious beliefs. Her narrative and her " Book of Life," recorded and edited by Olive Gilbert, provide a record of a woman who was, by all accounts, one of the most charismatic orators of her time.

Born about 1797 in Ulster County, New York, the daughter of Betsey (Elizabeth) and...