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SOJOURNER TRUTH
Sojourner Truth spent the first twenty-eight years
of her life as a slave. Named
Isabella upon her birth in Hurley, NY in 1797, she was the eleventh of 12
siblings. (By one account, she
became the mother of 13 children, most of whom were sold into slavery.)
Isabella began her life as the slave of a wealthy
man from Holland. Her first
language was Dutch. After
being sold for $105.00, she learned English and worked as a field hand, a
cleaning woman, a weaver, a cook, and a milkmaid. She was sold several additional times and eventually
ended up as the property of John Dumont.
In 1827, after a string of broken promises from
her owner, Isabel escaped with her infant daughter and found refuge with a
Quaker family named Van Wagenen. She was later guaranteed freedom in 1928
under the New York State Anti-Slavery Act.
It wasn't until 1843 that Isabella changed her
name to Sojourner Truth and became one of the leading voices for the
abolition of slavery and for women's rights. Unable to read or write, Sojourner Truth could
speak. She had a commanding
voice as well as a commanding presence. She was described as over 6 ft. tall, which meant she
towered over men and women of her day. She saw her mission to wonder, or sojourn, around the
country preaching for the freedom causes of her day. When one reads her speeches, it is
easy to imagine that if she were alive today, she would be fighting against
hunger, child labor abuse in third world countries, and for equal pay for
equal work for women (who today earn $0.70 to every dollar that a man
earns).
Many times she was met with anger, hatred, and
frustration. She once fell
victim to a mob. This attack
required her to walk with a cane the rest of her life. One of the most eloquent voices in
the abolition of slavery and for women's rights, Sojourner Truth died in
1883 while preaching in Battle Creek, Michigan.
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