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Sojourner
Truth
(1797 – November
26, 1883)
One of thirteen
children of James and Elizabeth Baumfree, Isabella Baumfree
was born a slave to Colonel Hardenbergh in Esopus, New York.
At the age of 9, she was traded in the slave trade and
separated from her family. Slaves in New York were emancipated
on July 4, 1827. Isabella however, escaped in 1826, and was
taken in by a family until emancipation was passed a year
later. After emancipation, Sojourner sued to get back her son,
who had previously been sold in the slave trade. She became
the first black woman to win a case against a black man.
Isabella Baumfree changed her name to Sojourner Truth on June
1, 1843. She became an abolitionist and an advocate of women's
rights and religious tolerance. Sojourner began giving an
account of her memoirs to a friend, and her book, “The
Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave” was published
in 1850.
She delivered a
speech at the first National Women's Rights Convention in
Worcester, Massachusetts later that year. Truth gave a number
of other speeches over the years. Her most famous speech,
“Ain't I A Woman?” was delivered in May 1851 at the Ohio
Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. For the next decade
of her life, Sojourner Truth travelled and delivered a number
of speeches. At one convention, in the middle of a speech,
Truth was accused of being a man. In response, she opened her
blouse to reveal otherwise. During the Civil War, she worked
to recruit African American soldiers for the Union Army. She
continued throughout her lifetime to fight for improvements in
the treatment of African Americans and women. In 1872, she
even attempted to vote in the Presidential election. She, of
course, was laughed at and turned away.
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heroinemag.com 2009
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