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= Sojourner_Truth =
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Introduction
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Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Bomefree; November 26, 1883) was an
American abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights,
women's rights, and alcohol temperance. Truth was born into slavery in
Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom
in 1826. After going to court to recover her son in 1828, she became
the first black woman to win such a case against a white man.
She gave herself the name Sojourner Truth in 1843 after she became
convinced that God had called her to leave the city and go into the
countryside "testifying to the hope that was in her." Her best-known
speech was delivered extemporaneously, in 1851, at the Ohio Women's
Convention in Akron, Ohio. The speech became widely known during the
Civil War by the title "Ain't I a Woman?", a variation of the original
speech that was published in 1863 as being spoken in a stereotypical
Black dialect, then more commonly spoken in the South. Sojourner
Truth, however, grew up speaking Dutch as her first language.
During the Civil War, Truth helped recruit black troops for the Union
Army; after the war, she tried unsuccessfully to secure land grants
from the federal government for formerly enslaved people (summarized
as the promise of "forty acres and a mule"). She continued to fight on
behalf of women and African Americans until her death. As her
biographer Nell Irvin Painter wrote, "At a time when most Americans
thought of slaves as male and women as white, Truth embodied a fact
that still bears repeating: Among the blacks are women; among the
women, there are blacks."
A memorial bust of Truth was unveiled in 2009 in Emancipation Hall in
the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. She is the first African American
woman to have a statue in the Capitol building. In 2014, Truth was
included in 'Smithsonian' magazine's list of the "100 Most Significant
Americans of All Time".
Early years
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Sojourner Truth once estimated that she was born between 1797 and
1800. Truth was one of the 10 or 12 children born to James and
Elizabeth Bomefree (later also given as Baumfree). Her father was a
slave captured from what became Ghana, while her mother - nicknamed
"Mau-Mau Bet" - was the daughter of slaves captured from the area of
Guinea. Her father was nicknamed "Bomefree" (which, according to
Truth, was Dutch for "tree"; compare boom 'boom', "tree") due to his
tall stature. Colonel Hardenbergh bought James and Elizabeth Bomefree
from slave traders and kept their family at his estate in a big hilly
area called by the Dutch name Swartekill (just north of modern
Rifton), in the town of Esopus, New York, 95 mi north of New York
City. When she was an infant, her five year old brother and three year
old sister were sold to a different estate. Her family would recount
memories of the children sold into slavery, and her mother taught the
children to pray. Her first language was Dutch, and she continued to
speak with a Dutch accent for the rest of her life. Charles
Hardenbergh inherited his father's estate and continued to own slaves
as a part of that estate's property.
When Charles Hardenbergh died in 1806, nine-year-old Truth (known as
Belle), was sold at an auction with a flock of sheep for $100 (~$ in )
to John Neely, near Kingston, New York. Until that time, Truth spoke
only Dutch, and after learning English, she spoke with a Dutch accent
and not a stereotypical dialect. She later described Neely as cruel
and harsh, relating how he beat her daily and once even with a bundle
of rods. In 1808 Neely sold her for $105 (~$ in ) to tavern keeper
Martinus Schryver of Port Ewen, New York, who owned her for 18 months.
Schryver then sold Truth in 1810 to John Dumont of West Park, New
York.
Dumont raped her repeatedly, and considerable tension existed between
Truth and Dumont's wife, Elizabeth Waring Dumont, who harassed her and
made her life more difficult. Around 1815, Truth met and fell in love
with a slave named Robert from a neighboring farm. Robert's owner
(Charles Catton, Jr., a landscape painter) forbade their relationship;
he did not want the slaves he owned to have children with people he
did not own because he would not own the children. One day Robert
sneaked over to see Truth. When Catton and his son found him, they
savagely beat Robert until Dumont finally intervened. Truth never saw
Robert again after that day and he died a few years later. The
experience haunted Truth throughout her life. Truth eventually married
an older enslaved man named Thomas. She bore five children: James, her
firstborn, who died in childhood; Diana (1815), the result of a rape
by John Dumont; and Peter (1821), Elizabeth (1825), and Sophia (), all
born after she and Thomas united.
Freedom
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In 1799, the State of New York began to legislate the abolition of
slavery, although the process of emancipating slaves in New York was
not complete until July 4, 1827. Dumont had promised to grant Truth
her freedom a year before the state emancipation, "if she would do
well and be faithful". However, he changed his mind, claiming a hand
injury had made her less productive. She was infuriated but continued
working, spinning of wool, to satisfy her sense of obligation to him.
Late in 1826, Truth escaped to freedom with her infant daughter,
Sophia. She had to leave her other children behind because they were
not legally freed in the emancipation order until they had served as
bound servants into their twenties. She later said, "I did not run
off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be
all right."
She found her way to the home of Isaac and Maria Van Wagenen in New
Paltz, who took her and her baby in. Isaac offered to buy her services
for the remainder of the year (until the state's emancipation took
effect), which Dumont accepted for $20. She lived there until the New
York State Emancipation Act was approved a year later.
Truth learned that her son Peter, then five years old, had been sold
by Dumont and then illegally resold to an owner in Alabama. With the
help of the Van Wagenens, she took the issue to the New York Supreme
Court. Using the name Isabella van Wagenen, she filed a suit against
Peter's new owner Solomon Gedney. In 1828, after months of legal
proceedings, she got back her son, who had been abused by his owners.
Truth became one of the first black women to go to court against a
white man and win the case. The court documents related to this
lawsuit were rediscovered by the staff at the New York State Archives
.
In 1827, she became a Christian and participated in the founding of
the Methodist church of Kingston, New York.
In 1829, she moved to New York City and joined the John Street
Methodist Church (Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church).
In 1833, she was hired by Robert Matthews, also known as the Prophet
Matthias, leader of a sect who identified with Judaism, went to work
for him as a housekeeper in the communal settlement, and became a
member of the group. In 1834, Matthews and Truth were charged with the
murder of Elijah Pierson, but were acquitted due to lack of evidence
and Truth's presentation of several letters confirming her reliability
as a servant. The trial then focused on the reported beating of
Matthews' daughter, of which he was found guilty and sentenced to
three months and an additional thirty days for contempt of court. This
event prompted Truth to leave the sect in 1835. Afterwards, she
retired to New York City until 1843.
In 1839, Truth's son Peter took a job on a whaling ship called the
'Zone of Nantucket'. From 1840 to 1841, she received three letters
from him, though in his third letter he told her he had sent five.
Peter said he also never received any of her letters. When the ship
returned to port in 1842, Peter was not on board and Truth never heard
from him again.
The result of freedom
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The year 1843 was a turning point for her. On June 1, Pentecost
Sunday, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth. She chose the name
because she heard the Spirit of God calling on her to preach the
truth. She told her friends: "The Spirit calls me, and I must go", and
left to make her way traveling and preaching about the abolition of
slavery. Taking along only a few possessions in a pillowcase, she
traveled north, working her way up through the Connecticut River
Valley, towards Massachusetts.
At that time, Truth began attending Millerite Adventist camp meetings.
Millerites followed the teachings of William Miller of New York, who
preached that Jesus would appear in 1843-1844, bringing about the end
of the world. Many in the Millerite community greatly appreciated
Truth's preaching and singing, and she drew large crowds when she
spoke. Like many others disappointed when the anticipated second
coming did not arrive, Truth distanced herself from her Millerite
friends for a time.
In 1844, she joined the Northampton Association of Education and
Industry in Florence, Massachusetts. Founded by abolitionists, the
organization supported women's rights and religious tolerance as well
as pacifism. There were, in its four-and-a-half-year history, a total
of 240 members, though no more than 120 at any one time. They lived on
470 acres, raising livestock, running a sawmill, a gristmill, and a
silk factory. Truth lived and worked in the community and oversaw the
laundry, supervising both men and women. While there, Truth met
William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and David Ruggles.
Encouraged by the community, Truth delivered her first anti-slavery
speech that year.
In 1845, she joined the household of George Benson, the brother-in-law
of William Lloyd Garrison. In 1846, the Northampton Association of
Education and Industry disbanded, unable to support itself. In 1849,
she visited John Dumont before he moved west.
Truth started dictating her memoirs to her friend Olive Gilbert and in
1850 William Lloyd Garrison privately published her book, 'The
Narrative of Sojourner Truth: a Northern Slave'. That same year, she
purchased a home in Florence for $300 and spoke at the first National
Women's Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1854, with
proceeds from sales of the narrative and 'cartes-de-visite' captioned,
"I sell the shadow to support the substance", she paid off the
mortgage held by her friend from the community, Samuel L. Hill.
"Ain't I a Woman?"
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In 1851, Truth joined George Thompson, an abolitionist and speaker, on
a lecture tour through central and western New York State. In May, she
attended the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, where she
delivered her famous extemporaneous speech on women's rights, later
known as "Ain't I a Woman?". Her speech demanded equal human rights
for all women. She also spoke as a former enslaved woman, combining
calls for abolitionism with women's rights, and drawing from her
strength as a laborer to make her equal rights claims.
The convention was organized by Hannah Tracy and Frances Dana Barker
Gage, who both were present when Truth spoke. Different versions of
Truth's words have been recorded, with the first one published a month
later in the 'Anti-Slavery Bugle' by Rev. Marius Robinson, the
newspaper owner and editor who was in the audience. Robinson's
recounting of the speech included no instance of the question "Ain't I
a Woman?", nor did any of the other newspapers reporting of her speech
at the time. Twelve years later, in May 1863, Gage published another,
very different, version. In it, Truth's speech pattern appeared to
have characteristics of Black slaves located in the southern United
States, and the speech was vastly different from the one Robinson had
reported. Gage's version of the speech became the most widely
circulated version, and is known as "Ain't I a Woman?" because that
question was repeated four times. It is highly unlikely that Truth's
own speech pattern was like this, as she was born and raised in New
York, and she spoke only upper New York State low-Dutch until she was
nine years old.
In the version recorded by Rev. Marius Robinson, Truth said:
In contrast to Robinson's report, Gage's 1863 version included Truth
saying her 13 children were sold away from her into slavery. Truth is
widely believed to have had five children, with one sold away, and was
never known to boast more children. Gage's 1863 recollection of the
convention conflicts with her own report directly after the
convention: Gage wrote in 1851 that Akron in general and the press, in
particular, were largely friendly to the woman's rights convention,
but in 1863 she wrote that the convention leaders were fearful of the
"mobbish" opponents. Other eyewitness reports of Truth's speech told a
calm story, one where all faces were "beaming with joyous gladness" at
the session where Truth spoke; that not "one discordant note"
interrupted the harmony of the proceedings. In contemporary reports,
Truth was warmly received by the convention-goers, the majority of
whom were long-standing abolitionists, friendly to progressive ideas
of race and civil rights. In Gage's 1863 version, Truth was met with
hisses, with voices calling to prevent her from speaking. Other
interracial gatherings of black and white abolitionist women had in
fact been met with violence, including the burning of Pennsylvania
Hall.
According to Frances Gage's recount in 1863, Truth argued, "That man
over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and
lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody
helps 'me' any best place. 'And ain't I a woman?"' Truth's "Ain't I a
Woman" showed the lack of recognition that black women received during
this time and whose lack of recognition will continue to be seen long
after her time. "Black women, of course, were virtually invisible
within the protracted campaign for woman suffrage", wrote Angela
Davis, supporting Truth's argument that nobody gives her "any best
place"; and not just her, but black women in general.
Over the next 10 years, Truth spoke before dozens, perhaps hundreds,
of audiences. From 1851 to 1853, Truth worked with Marius Robinson,
the editor of the Ohio 'Anti-Slavery Bugle', and traveled around that
state speaking. In 1853, she spoke at a suffragist "mob convention" at
the Broadway Tabernacle in New York City; that year she also met
Harriet Beecher Stowe. In 1856, she traveled to Battle Creek,
Michigan, to speak to a group called the Friends of Human Progress.
Other speeches
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Northampton Camp Meeting - 1844, Northampton, Massachusetts: At a camp
meeting where she was participating as an itinerant preacher, a band
of "wild young men" disrupted the camp meeting, refused to leave, and
threatened to burn down the tents. Truth caught the sense of fear
pervading the worshipers and hid behind a trunk in her tent, thinking
that since she was the only black person present, the mob would attack
her first. However, she reasoned with herself and resolved to do
something: as the noise of the mob increased and a female preacher was
"trembling on the preachers' stand", Truth went to a small hill and
began to sing "in her most fervid manner, with all the strength of her
most powerful voice, the hymn on the resurrection of Christ". Her
song, "It was Early in the Morning", gathered the rioters to her and
quieted them. They urged her to sing, preach, and pray for their
entertainment. After singing songs and preaching for about an hour,
Truth bargained with them to leave after one final song. The mob
agreed and left the camp meeting.
Abolitionist Convention - 1840s, Boston, Massachusetts: William Lloyd
Garrison invited Sojourner Truth to give a speech at an annual
antislavery convention. Wendell Phillips was supposed to speak after
her, which made her nervous since he was known as such a good orator.
So Truth sang a song, "I Am Pleading for My people", which was her own
original composition sung to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne".
Mob Convention - September 7, 1853: At the convention, young men
greeted her with "a perfect storm", hissing and groaning. In response,
Truth said, "You may hiss as much as you please, but women will get
their rights anyway. You can't stop us, neither". Sojourner, like
other public speakers, often adapted her speeches to how the audience
was responding to her. In her speech, Sojourner speaks out for women's
rights. She incorporates religious references in her speech,
particularly the story of Esther. She then goes on to say that, just
as women in scripture, women today are fighting for their rights.
Moreover, Sojourner scolds the crowd for all their hissing and rude
behavior, reminding them that God says to "Honor thy father and thy
mother".
American Equal Rights Association - May 9-10, 1867: Her speech was
addressed to the American Equal Rights Association, and divided into
three sessions. Sojourner was received with loud cheers instead of
hisses, now that she had a better-formed reputation established. 'The
Call' had advertised her name as one of the main convention speakers.
For the first part of her speech, she spoke mainly about the rights of
black women. Sojourner argued that because the push for equal rights
had led to black men winning new rights, now was the best time to give
black women the rights they deserve too. Throughout her speech she
kept stressing that "we should keep things going while things are
stirring" and fears that once the fight for colored rights settles
down, it would take a long time to warm people back up to the idea of
colored women's having equal rights.
In the second sessions of Sojourner's speech, she used a story from
the Bible to help strengthen her argument for equal rights for women.
She ended her argument by accusing men of being self-centered, saying:
"Man is so selfish that he has got women's rights and his own too, and
yet he won't give women their rights. He keeps them all to himself."
For the final session of Sojourner's speech, the center of her
attention was mainly on women's right to vote. Sojourner told her
audience that she owned her own house, as did other women, and must,
therefore, pay taxes. Nevertheless, they were still unable to vote
because they were women. Black women who were enslaved were made to do
hard manual work, such as building roads. Sojourner argues that if
these women were able to perform such tasks, then they should be
allowed to vote because surely voting is easier than building roads.
Eighth Anniversary of Negro Freedom - New Year's Day, 1871: On this
occasion the Boston papers related that "...seldom is there an
occasion of more attraction or greater general interest. Every
available space of sitting and standing room was crowded". She starts
off her speech by giving a little background about her own life.
Sojourner recounts how her mother told her to pray to God that she may
have good masters and mistresses. She goes on to retell how her
masters were not good to her, about how she was whipped for not
understanding English, and how she would question God why he had not
made her masters be good to her. Sojourner admits to the audience that
she had once hated white people, but she says once she met her final
master, Jesus, she was filled with love for everyone. Once enslaved
folks were emancipated, she tells the crowd she knew her prayers had
been answered.
That last part of Sojourner's speech brings in her main focus. Some
freed enslaved people were living on government aid at that time, paid
for by taxpayers. Sojourner announces that this is not any better for
those colored people than it is for the members of her audience. She
then proposes that black people are given their own land. Because a
portion of the South's population contained rebels that were unhappy
with the abolishment of slavery, that region of the United States was
not well suited for colored people. She goes on to suggest that
colored people be given land out west to build homes and prosper on.
Second Annual Convention of the American Woman Suffrage Association -
Boston, 1871: In a brief speech, Truth argued that women's rights were
essential, not only to their own well-being, but "for the benefit of
the whole creation, not only the women, but all the men on the face of
the earth, for they were the mother of them".
On a mission
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Truth dedicated her life to fighting for a more equal society for
African Americans and for women, including abolition, voting rights,
and property rights. She was at the vanguard of efforts to address
intersecting social justice issues. As historian Martha Jones wrote,
"[w]hen Black women like Truth spoke of rights, they mixed their ideas
with challenges to slavery and to racism. Truth told her own stories,
ones that suggested that a women's movement might take another
direction, one that championed the broad interests of all humanity."
Truthalong with Stephen Symonds Foster and Abby Kelley Foster,
Jonathan Walker, Marius Robinson, and Sallie Holleyreorganized the
Michigan Anti-Slavery Society in 1853 in Adrian, Michigan. The state
society was founded in 1836 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
In 1856, Truth bought a neighboring lot in Northampton, but she did
not keep the new property for long. On September 3, 1857, she sold all
her possessions, new and old, to Daniel Ives and moved to Battle
Creek, Michigan, where she rejoined former members of the Millerite
movement who had formed the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Antislavery
movements had begun early in Michigan and Ohio. Here, she also joined
the nucleus of the Michigan abolitionists, the Progressive Friends,
some who she had already met at national conventions. From 1857 to
1867 Truth lived in the village of Harmonia, Michigan, a Spiritualist
utopia. She then moved into nearby Battle Creek, Michigan, living at
her home on 38 College St. until her death in 1883. According to the
1860 census, her household in Harmonia included her daughter,
Elizabeth Banks (age 35), and her grandsons James Caldwell (misspelled
as "Colvin"; age 16) and Sammy Banks (age 8).
Truth helped recruit black troops for the Union Army during the Civil
War. Her grandson, James Caldwell, enlisted in the 54th Massachusetts
Regiment. In 1864, Truth was employed by the National Freedman's
Relief Association in Washington, D.C., where she worked diligently to
improve conditions for African-Americans. In October of that year, she
was invited to the White House by President Abraham Lincoln. In 1865,
while working at the Freedman's Hospital in Washington, Truth rode in
the streetcars to help force their desegregation.
Truth is credited with writing a song, "The Valiant Soldiers", for the
1st Michigan Colored Regiment; it was said to be composed during the
war and sung by her in Detroit and Washington, D.C. It is sung to the
tune of "John Brown's Body" or "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".
Although Truth claimed to have written the words, it has been disputed
(see "Marching Song of the First Arkansas").
In 1867, Truth moved from Harmonia to Battle Creek. In 1868, she
traveled to western New York and visited with Amy Post, and continued
traveling all over the East Coast. At a speaking engagement in
Florence, Massachusetts, after she had just returned from a very
tiring trip, when Truth was called upon to speak she stood up and
said, "Children, I have come here like the rest of you, to hear what I
have to say."
In 1870, Truth tried to secure land grants from the federal government
to former enslaved people, a project she pursued for seven years
without success. While in Washington, D.C., she had a meeting with
President Ulysses S. Grant in the White House. In 1872, she returned
to Battle Creek, became active in Grant's presidential re-election
campaign, and even tried to vote on Election Day, but was turned away
at the polling place.
Truth spoke about abolition, women's rights, prison reform, and
preached to the Michigan Legislature against capital punishment. Not
everyone welcomed her preaching and lectures, but she had many friends
and staunch support among many influential people at the time,
including Amy Post, Parker Pillsbury, Frances Gage, Wendell Phillips,
William Lloyd Garrison, Laura Smith Haviland, Lucretia Mott, Ellen G.
White, and Susan B. Anthony.
Illness and death
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Truth was cared for by two of her daughters in the last years of her
life. Several days before Sojourner Truth died, a reporter came from
the 'Grand Rapids Eagle' to interview her. "Her face was drawn and
emaciated and she was apparently suffering great pain. Her eyes were
very bright and mind alert although it was difficult for her to talk."
Truth died early in the morning on November 26, 1883, at her Battle
Creek home. On November 28, 1883, her funeral was held at the
Congregational-Presbyterian Church officiated by its pastor, the
Reverend Reed Stuart. Some of the prominent citizens of Battle Creek
acted as pall-bearers; nearly one thousand people attended the
service. Truth was buried in the city's Oak Hill Cemetery.
Frederick Douglass offered a eulogy for her in Washington, D.C.
"Venerable for age, distinguished for insight into human nature,
remarkable for independence and courageous self-assertion, devoted to
the welfare of her race, she has been for the last forty years an
object of respect and admiration to social reformers everywhere."
Monuments and statues
=======================
There have been many memorials erected in honor of Sojourner Truth,
commemorating her life and work. These include memorial plaques,
busts, and full-sized statues.
Michigan
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The first historical marker honoring Truth was established in Battle
Creek in 1935, when a stone memorial was placed in Stone History
Tower, in Monument Park. The State of Michigan further recognized her
legacy by naming highway M-66 in Calhoun County the Sojourner Truth
Memorial Highway, running from the county line south of Athens to
Morgan Road in Pennfield Township, northeast of Battle Creek.
1999 marked the estimated bicentennial of Sojourner's birth. To honor
the occasion, a larger-than-life sculpture of Sojourner Truth by Tina
Allen was added to Monument Park in Battle Creek. The 12-foot tall
Sojourner monument is cast in bronze.
Ohio
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In 1981, an Ohio Historical Marker was unveiled on the site of the
Universalist "Old Stone" Church in Akron where Sojourner Truth gave
her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech on May 29, 1851. Sojourner Truth Legacy
Plaza, which includes a statue of her by sculptor and Akron native
Woodrow Nash, opened in Akron in 2024.
New York
==========
In 1862, American sculptor William Wetmore Story completed a marble
statue, inspired by Sojourner Truth, named 'The Libyan Sibyl'. The
work won an award at the London World Exhibition. The original
sculpture was gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York
City, by the Erving Wolf Foundation in 1978.
In 1983, a plaque honoring Sojourner Truth was unveiled in front of
the historic Ulster County Courthouse in Kingston, New York. The
plaque was given by the Sojourner Truth Day Committee to commemorate
the centennial of her death.
In 1990, New York Governor Mario Cuomo presented a two-foot statue of
Sojourner Truth, made by New York sculptor Ruth Inge Hardison, to
Nelson Mandela during his visit to New York City.
In 1998, on the 150th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, a
life-sized, terracotta statue of Truth by artists A. Lloyd Lillie,
Jr., and Victoria Guerina was unveiled at the Women's Rights National
Historical Park visitor center. Although Truth did not attend the
convention, the statue marked Truth's famous 1851 speech in Akron,
Ohio, and recognized her important role in the fight for women's
suffrage.
In 2013, a bronze statue of Truth as an 11-year-old girl was installed
at Port Ewen, New York, where Truth lived for several years while
still enslaved. The sculpture was created by New Paltz, New York,
sculptor Trina Green.
In 2015, the Klyne Esopus Museum installed a historical marker in
Ulster Park, New York commemorating Truth's walk to freedom in 1826.
She walked about 14 miles from Esopus, up what is now Floyd Ackert
Road, to Rifton, New York.
In 2020, a statue was unveiled at the Walkway Over the Hudson park in
Highland, New York. It was created by Yonkers sculptor Vinnie
Bagwell, commissioned by the New York State Women's Suffrage
Commission. The statue includes text, braille, and symbols. The folds
of her skirt act as a canvas to depict Sojourner's life experiences,
including images of a young enslaved mother comforting her child, a
slavery sale sign, images of her abolitionist peers, and a poster for
a women's suffrage march.
On August 26, 2020, on the 100th anniversary of the passage of the
19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a statue honoring Truth,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony was unveiled in Central
Park in New York City. The sculpture, entitled "Women's Rights
Pioneers Monument", was created by American artist Meredith Bergmann.
It is the first sculpture in Central Park to depict historical women.
A statue to the fictional character Alice in Wonderland is the only
other female figure depicted in the park. Original plans for the
memorial included only Stanton and Anthony, but after critics raised
objections to the lack of inclusion of women of color, Truth was added
to the design.
On February 28, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul dedicated
Sojourner Truth State Park near the site of her birthplace.
California
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In 1999, 'Sojourner', a Mexican limestone statue of Sojourner Truth by
sculptor Elizabeth Catlett, was unveiled in Sacramento, California on
the corner of K and 13th Street. It was vandalized in 2013, where it
was found smashed into pieces.
A bronze statue by San Diego sculptor Manuelita Brown was dedicated on
January 22, 2015, on the campus of the Thurgood Marshall College of
Law, of the University of California, San Diego, California. The
artist donated the sculpture to the college.
Massachusetts
===============
In 2002, the Sojourner Truth Memorial statue by Oregon sculptor Thomas
"Jay" Warren was installed in Florence, Massachusetts, in a small park
located on Pine Street and Park Street, on which she lived for ten
years.
Washington, D.C.
==================
In 2009, a bust of Sojourner Truth was installed in the U.S. Capitol.
The bust was sculpted by noted artist Artis Lane. It is in
Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. With this
installation, Truth became the first black woman to be honored with a
statue in the Capitol building.
Additional recognition
========================
In regard to the magazine 'Ms.', which began in 1972, Gloria Steinem
has stated, "We were going to call it 'Sojourner', after Sojourner
Truth, but that was perceived as a travel magazine.
Truth was posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame
in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1981. She was also inducted to the
Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, in Lansing, Michigan. She was part of
the inaugural class of inductees when the museum was established in
1983.
The U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative, 22-cent postage stamp
honoring Sojourner Truth in 1986. The original artwork was created by
Jerry Pinkney, and features a double portrait of Truth. The stamp was
part of the Black Heritage series. The first day of issue was February
4, 1986.
Truth was included in a monument of "Michigan Legal Milestones"
erected by the State Bar of Michigan in 1987, honoring her historic
court case.
The calendar of saints of the Episcopal Church remembers Sojourner
Truth annually, together with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer
and Harriet Ross Tubman, on July 20. The calendar of saints of the
Lutheran Church remembers Sojourner Truth together with Harriet Tubman
on March 10.
In 1997, The NASA Mars Pathfinder mission's robotic rover was named
"Sojourner". The following year, S.T. Writes Home appeared on the web
offering "Letters to Mom from Sojourner Truth", in which the Mars
Pathfinder Rover at times echoes its namesake.
In 2002, Temple University scholar Molefi Kete Asante published a list
of 100 Greatest African Americans, which includes Sojourner Truth.
In 2009 Truth was inducted into the National Abolition Hall of Fame,
in Peterboro, New York.
In 2014, the asteroid 249521 Truth was named in her honor.
Truth was included in the Smithsonian Institution's list of the "100
Most Significant Americans", published 2014.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced in 2016 that an image of
Sojourner Truth will appear on the back of a newly designed $10 bill
along with Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Alice Paul and the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession. Designs for new $5,
$10 and $20 bills were originally scheduled to be unveiled in 2020 in
conjunction with the 100th anniversary of American women winning the
right to vote via the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced that plans
for the $20 redesign, which was to feature Harriet Tubman, have been
postponed.
On September 19, 2016, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus
announced the name of the last ship of a six unit construction
contract as USNS 'Sojourner Truth' (T-AO 210). This ship will be part
of the latest 'John Lewis'-class of Fleet Replenishment Oilers named
in honor of U.S. civil and human rights heroes currently under
construction at General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego, CA.
A Google Doodle was featured on February 1, 2019, in honor of
Sojourner Truth. The doodle was showcased in Canada, United States,
United Kingdom, Switzerland, Israel, Ireland and Germany.
For their first match of March 2019, the women of the United States
women's national soccer team each wore a jersey with the name of a
woman they were honoring on the back; Christen Press chose the name of
Sojourner Truth.
Metro-North Railroad named one of its Shoreliner II passenger cars -
No.6188 - in honor of Sojourner Truth.
Works of art
==============
In 1892, Albion artist Frank Courter was commissioned by Frances Titus
to paint the meeting between Truth and President Abraham Lincoln that
occurred on October 29, 1864.
In 1945, Elizabeth Catlett created a print entitled 'I'm Sojourner
Truth' as part of a series honoring the labor of black women. The
print is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection. She would
later create a full-size statue of Truth, which was displayed in
Sacramento, California.
In 1958, African-American artist John Biggers created a mural called
the 'Contribution of Negro Woman to American Life and Education' as
his doctoral dissertation. It was unveiled at the Blue Triangle
Community Center (former YWCA) - Houston, Texas and features Sojourner
Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Phillis Wheatley.
Inspired by the work of pioneer women's historian Gerda Lerner,
feminist artist Judy Chicago (Judith Sylvia Cohen) created a
collaborative masterpiece - 'The Dinner Party', a mixed-media art
installation, between 1974 and 1979. The Sojourner Truth placesetting
is one of 39. 'The Dinner Party' is gifted by the Elizabeth Sackler
Foundation to the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art,
Brooklyn Museum - New York in 2000.
Feminist theorist and author bell hooks titled her first major work
after Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" speech. The book was published in
1981.
African-American composer Gary Powell Nash composed 'In Memoriam:
Sojourner Truth,' in 1992.'
The Broadway musical 'The Civil War', which premiered in 1999,
includes an abridged version of Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" speech as a
spoken-word segment. On the 1999 cast recording, the track was
performed by Maya Angelou.
In 2018, a crocheted mural, 'Sojourner Truth: Ain't I A Woman?', was
hung on display at the Akron Civic Theatre's outer wall at Lock 3 Park
in Ohio. It was one of four projects in New York and North Carolina as
part of the "Love Across the U.S.A.", spearheaded by fiber artist
OLEK.
Libraries, schools, and buildings
===================================
* Sojourner Truth Library at New Paltz State University of New York
was named in Truth's honor in 1971.
* In 1980, the Inter Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan
and the residents of the then Lenny Bruce House rename it as Sojourner
Truth House in her honor.
* Summit County, Ohio, dedicates the renovated Danner Press Building
as the Sojourner Truth Building in Akron in 1991 and unveils the
reinstalled Ohio Historical Marker on the building wall.
* The King's College, located inside the Empire State Building in New
York City, names one of their houses "The House of Sojourner Truth" in
2004.
* In recognition that Truth and her parents were enslaved by people
related to their first president, Rutgers University renamed its
College Avenue Apartments to the Sojourner Truth Apartments.
* Sojourner-Douglass College in Baltimore, which closed in 2019, was
named after Truth and Frederick Douglass.
* As of February 2020, elementary schools and K-12 schools in several
states are named after Truth.
Organizations
===============
* In 1969, the left-wing political group Sojourner Truth Organization
was established.
* In 1996, visual artist and community activist Shonna McDaniels
establishes the Sojourner Truth African American (Art) Heritage Museum
in South Sacramento, California (popularly known as "SOJO" Museum).''
* In 1998, Velma Laws Clay founded the Sojourner Truth Institute in
Battle Creek, to "expand the historical and biographical knowledge of
Sojourner Truth's life work and carry on her mission by teaching,
demonstrating and promoting projects that accentuate the ideals and
principles for which she stood."
* Sojourner Truth Houses have been established in many U.S. cities to
provide shelter and services to women facing homelessness or domestic
abuse. These include Sojourner Truth Houses in Boston, MA, Providence,
RI, and Pittsburgh.
Study clubs
=============
Starting in 1895, numerous black civic associations adopted the name
Sojourner Truth Club or similar titles to honor her.
Examples listing club names, places, years founded:
* Sojourner Truth Club, Birmingham, AL, 1895
* Sojourner Truth Club, Battle Creek, Michigan, 1897
* Sojourner Truth Club, Los Angeles, CA, 1906
* Sojourner Truth Club, Denver, CO, by 1916
* Sojourner Truth Study Club, Omaha, NE, by 1933
* Sojourner Truth Study Club, St. Louis, MO, by 1938
* Women's Sojourner Truth Study Club, Pasadena, CA by 1945
* Sojourner Truth Political Study Club, Los Angeles, CA, by 1946
* Sojourner Truth Club, Richmond, IN, by 1974
Writings
======================================================================
*
[
https://archive.org/details/narrativeofsojou1850gilb/page/n1/mode/2up
'Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave'] (1850).
** Dover Publications 1997 edition:
** Penguin Classics 1998 edition: . Introduction & notes by Nell
Irvin Painter.
** University of Pennsylvania online edition (HTML format, one chapter
per page)
** University of Virginia online edition (HTML format, 207 kB, entire
book on one page)
See also
======================================================================
* Elizabeth Freeman
* Elizabeth Key Grinstead
* List of enslaved people
* List of women's rights activists
* List of abolitionists
* List of African-American abolitionists
Further reading
======================================================================
* Andrews, William L., ed. 'Sisters of the Spirit: Three Black Women's
Autobiographies of the Nineteenth Century' (Indiana University Press,
1986).
* Bernard, Jacqueline. 'Journey toward freedom: The story of Sojourner
Truth' (Feminist Press at CUNY, 1990).
* Field, Corinne T. "Old-Age Justice and Black Feminist History:
Sojourner Truth's and Harriet Tubman's Intersectional Legacies."
'Radical History Review' 2021.139 (2021): 37-51.
*
*
*
* Mabee, Carleton. "Sojourner Truth, Bold Prophet: Why Did She Never
Learn to Read?." 'New York History' 69.1 (1988): 55-77.
* Mandziuk, Roseann M., and Suzanne Pullon Fitch. "The rhetorical
construction of Sojourner Truth." 'Southern Journal of Communication'
66.2 (2001): 120-138.
* Murphy, Larry G. 'Sojourner Truth: A Biography' (ABC-CLIO, 2011).
* Painter, Nell Irvin. "Sojourner Truth in life and memory: Writing
the biography of an American exotic." 'Gender & History' 2.1
(1990): 3-16.
[
http://www.nellpainter.com/assets/pdfs/articles/A29_SojTruthExotic.pdf
online]
*
* Painter, Nell Irvin (2000). "Truth, Sojourner" in 'American National
Biography'.
* Peterson, Carla. '"Doers of the Word": African American Women
Speakers and Writers in the North (1830-1880)' (Rutgers University
Press, 1998).
*
* Redding, Saunders. "Sojourner Truth," Edward T. James ed. 'Notable
American Women' vol 3 (1971) 481
*
* Smiet, Katrine. 'Sojourner Truth and Intersectionality: Traveling
Truths in Feminist Scholarship' (Routledge, 2020).
*
*
* Online edition (PDF format, 9.9 MB).
* Vetter, Lisa Pace. 'The Political Thought of America's Founding
Feminists' (New York UP, 2017) pp. 198-212.
*
* Yee, Shirley J. 'Black women abolitionists: A study in activism,
1828-1860' (Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1992).
[
https://archive.org/details/blackwomenabolit00shir online]
* Yellin, Jean Fagan. 'Women and Sisters: The Antislavery Feminists in
American Culture' (Yale University Press, 1989).
External links
======================================================================
*
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*
* Part of her life is retold in the 1948 radio drama
"[
https://ia801505.us.archive.org/15/items/OTRR_Destination_Freedom_Singles/Destination%20Freedom%20%28008%29%201948-08-15%20Truth%20Goes%20to%20Washington.mp3
Truth Goes to Washington]", a presentation from 'Destination Freedom',
written by Richard Durham
License
=========
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Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sojourner_Truth
