Sojourner truth biography scholarly website
•
Sojourner Truth, an abolitionist, women’s rights activist, emancipated slave and itinerant evangelist, became arguably the most well-known nineteenth century African American woman. Born around 1797, Isabella (her birth name) was the daughter of James and Betsey, slaves of Colonel Ardinburgh Hurley, Ulster County, New York. From a young age, she was bought and sold several times by slaveowners in New York. She married an enslaved man named Thomas, and together they had five children.
On July 4, 1827, the New York State Legislature emancipated Isabella, yet her owners at the time, the Dumonts, would not comply because they claimed she still owed them work. One morning before dawn, with a baby in her arms, she walked away from the Dumonts and took refuge with an abolitionist family who lived five miles away. During this time, she experienced a religious conversion and became active in the nearby Methodist church. Eventually, she moved with her son, Peter, to New York City, where she
•
Sojourner Truth
Edited by Debra Michals, PhD | 2015
A formerly enslaved woman, Sojourner Truth became an outspoken advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women’s rights in the nineteenth century. Her Civil War work earned her an invitation to meet President Abraham Lincoln in 1864.
Truth was born Isabella Bomfree in Dutch-speaking Ulster County, New York in 1797. Born into slavery, her enslavers bought and sold Truth four times, and subjected her to harsh physical labor and violent punishments. In her teens, she was united with another enslaved man with whom she had five children, beginning in 1815. In 1827—a year before New York’s lag freeing enslaved people was to take effect—Truth ran away with her infant Sophia to a nearby abolitionist family, the Van Wageners. The family bought her freedom for twenty dollars and helped Truth successfully sue for the return of her five-year-old-son Peter, who was illegally sold into slavery in Alabama.
Truth moved to Ne
•
"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." - Historian Nell Irvin Painter
Sojourner Truth Portrait (c.1864)
The Woman, The Myth, The Legend
As an itinerant preacher, abolitionist, and women's rights activist, Sojourner Truth spoke out against the injustices affecting various communities. Propelled by her faith, Truth traveled extensively to speak about her experiences as both a woman and a former slave. Although the most popular quotes attributed to her legacy are inaccurate, Truth's activism led her to become one of the most recognizable figures in American History.
Isabella's Birth
Sojourner Truth was given the name Isabella Baumfree at birth. She was born nära Roundout Creek in the town of Hurley, Ulster County, New York. Although her exact birth date is unknown, it fryst vatten believed that she was born around 1797 on the estate of Co