Sojourner Truth | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Born 1797
Ulster County, New York
Died November 26, 1883
Battle Creek, Michigan

Abolitionist and women's rights activist

Abolitionist Sojourner Truth is one of the most famous women in American history. Born into slavery, she became a leader in the abolitionist movement (the crusade to end slavery in America) and a pioneer in the battle for women's rights during the 1840s and 1850s. Truth also emerged as an energetic advocate (supporter) for blacks during the post–Civil War era known as Reconstruction (1865–77). Today, she is remembered as one of the leading social reformers of her time.

Sojourner Truth was born as Isabella Baumfree in 1797 in Ulster Country, New York. The daughter of slave parents owned by James and Elizabeth Baumfree, Truth spent her childhood as a slave. As she grew older, she witnessed many of slavery's cruelties firsthand. For example, several of her brothers and sisters were sold and taken away from their family during her childhood.

Truth was torn away from her family, too. When she was nine years old, her master separated her from her grieving parents by selling her to another planter (plantation owner). By 1810, when Truth was sold to John Dumont, she had been the property of several slaveowners. Her purchase by Dumont, though, brought a measure of stability to her life. She spent the next seventeen years as a slave on the Dumont estate in New Paltz, New York. During this time she married a fellow slave named Thomas, with whom she had five children.

Truth's life changed dramatically in the late 1820s. In 1827, the state of New York declared slavery illegal within its borders. This meant that Truth and her children were emancipated (freed from slavery). Around this time, however, Dumont illegally sold her youngest child, who was then transported to Alabama. Truth responded by enlisting the aid of Quaker abolitionists, who helped her secure his return. (Quakers were members of a religious group that strongly opposed slavery.) This incident showed Truth's increased willingness to defy America's slavery system.

After gaining their freedom, Truth and her children were taken in by Maria and Isaac Van Wagenen. During her stay with the Van Wagenens, Truth adopted their last name as her own and experienced a profound religious conversion. These new, deeply felt religious beliefs became a guiding force in Truth's life for the rest of her days.

The next decade was a period of transition for Truth, as she worked to build a life for herself. In 1829, Truth moved to New York City, where she joined a Methodist Church congregation and devoted herself to assisting in the church's worship and social programs.

Truth's increased involvement in religion took place during a period in American history known as the Second Great Awakening. This period, which reached its height during the 1820s and 1830s, was a time in which religion took on greater importance to thousands of people all across the nation. Guided by influential religious leaders, increased numbers of Americans came to believe that they could achieve salvation by leading moral lives and actively opposing sinful practices.

Truth's life was fundamentally changed by her growing religious convictions (beliefs). During the 1830s, she attended dozens of religious gatherings called camp meetings. At these meetings she developed a reputation as a gifted speaker. Truth also became involved in the evangelical activities of Elijah Pierson and Robert Matthews (evangelism is preaching about the teachings and doctrines of Christianity) at various times during this period.

In 1843, the former Isabella Wagenen changed her name to Sojourner Truth. She later explained that she made the change when God spoke to her and gave her a new name. She also left New York City during this time, in part because she felt depressed about the poverty in which so many of its citizens lived.

After leaving New York City, Truth became a wandering preacher of God's word. Traveling up and down the Connecticut River Valley, she delivered her message about God's love, wisdom, and power to countless rural audiences. During her travels of this period, she also became acquainted with many of the most important members of America's growing abolitionist movement, including Frederick Douglass (1817–1895; see entry), William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879), and George Benson.

Truth's contact with these leaders in the abolitionist cause had a tremendous impact on her. Inspired by their efforts to abolish slavery—and their support for women's rights—Truth added strong statements about these issues to her evangelical message. By the late 1840s, Truth's blunt and fiery speaking style had established her as one of the abolitionist movement's most popular speakers.

In 1850, Truth joined with abolitionist Olive Gilbert to write The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. Sales of this book, which Truth published herself, became the abolitionist's primary means of supporting herself for the next several years. In 1851, she attended a women's rights conference in Akron, Ohio. Truth had gone to the conference in order to talk with other supporters of women's rights and sell copies of her autobiography. During the conference, however, several male ministers ridiculed female attempts to win the right to vote and gain legal protections that white men took for granted. When none of the white women at the conference rose to defend their cause, Truth boldly stood up and delivered a spirited scolding to the ministers that ended with thunderous applause from her female audience. Her speech, in which she proudly asserted her identity as both a woman and a black person, is remembered today as one of the most significant events in the American women's rights movement.

During the mid-1850s, Truth moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, a center of American religious and abolitionist activity. She remained devoted to seeing slavery brought to an end during this time, but also spent a lot of her time on women's rights. As a result, Truth became angry with some male abolitionists who did not seem to realize that the inferior status of women in American society was also an injustice.

During the Civil War, Truth led efforts to provide food, education, and employment opportunities to ex-slave refugees. In 1864, she met personally with President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) to discuss the future ofthose refugees. After the Civil War concluded in 1865, Truth remained a leading advocate for former slaves. She contributed great amounts of time and energy to the Freedmen's Bureau and other relief agencies. In addition, she continued to deliver public lectures in which she championed the cause of equal rights for all. She also submitted a plan to Congress in which government land in the West would be given to former slaves. Congress failed to act on her proposal, but Truth's support for black migration to the West convinced thousands of former slaves to establish homesteads in Kansas.

Truth's activism on behalf of blacks and women ended in the late 1870s, when her health began to decline. She stopped traveling and returned to Battle Creek, where she died in 1883.

Bernard, Jacqueline. Journey Toward Freedom: The Story of Sojourner Truth. New York: Norton, 1967. Reprint, New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1990.

Krass, Peter. Sojourner Truth. New York: Chelsea House, 1988.

Mabee, Carleton. Sojourner Truth: Slave, Prophet, Legend. New York: New York University Press, 1993.

McKissack, Patricia, and Frederick McKissack. Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman? New York: Scholastic, 1992.

Painter, Nell Irvin. Sojourner Truth: A Life, a Symbol. New York: Norton, 1996.

Sojourner Truth Institute of Battle Creek. Sojourner Truth Institute. [Online] http://www.sojournertruth.org/ (accessed on October 15, 1999).

Stetson, Erlene. Glorying in Tribulation: The Lifework of Sojourner Truth. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1994.

Truth, Sojourner, and Olive Gilbert. The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. 1850.

Whalin, T. Sojourner Truth: American Abolitionist. Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour & Co., 1997.

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