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Sojourner Truth
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Sojourner Truth
Born circa. 1797
Hardenbergh estate in
Swartekill, New York
Died November 26, 1883
Battle Creek, Michigan
Occupation Domestic servant, Abolitionist, Author
Parents James and Elizabeth Baumfree
Sojourner Truth (c. 1797–November 26, 1883) was the self-given name, from
1843, of Isabella Baumfree, an American abolitionist and women's rights
activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York. Her
best-known speech, which became known as Ain't I a Woman?, was delivered in
1851 at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.
Early years
Truth was born around 1797 into slavery on the Hardenbergh estate in
Swartekill, New York, [2] one of thirteen children, to James and Elizabeth
Baumfree, who were slaves of a Colonel Hardenbergh. She spoke only Dutch
until she was sold.[3] After the colonel's death, ownership of the family
slaves passed to his son, Charles Hardenbergh.
In 1806, Hardenbergh sold Truth for $100 to John Neely, near Kingston, New
York; Neely sold her in 1808, for $105, to Martinus Schryver of Kingston,
who owned her for 18 months; Schryver sold her in 1810, for $175, to John
Dumont of New Paltz, New York.[2] She suffered many hardships at the hands
of Dumont, whom she later described as cruel and harsh.
Around 1815, Truth met and fell in love with a slave named Robert from a
neighboring farm. Robert's owner forbade the relationship; he did not want
his slave to have children with a slave he did not own, because he would not
own the children. Robert was savagely beaten and Truth never saw him again.
Soon after that, Truth had a daughter, named Diana (1815).[4] In 1817, Truth
was forced by Dumont to marry an older slave named Thomas. They had four
children, Peter (1822), James (1823), Elizabeth (1825), and Sophia
(1826).[3]
Freedom
The state of New York began, in 1799, to legislate the abolition of slavery,
which took place on July 4, 1827. Dumont had promised Truth 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. She continued working until she felt she had
done enough to satisfy her sense of obligation to him by spinning 100 pounds
of wool.
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.[3]
I did not run off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing
that to be all right.[3]
She found her way to the home of Isaac and Maria Van Wagenen, a Quaker
family,[5] 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.[3] She lived there until the New York State
Emancipation Act was approved a year later.
Truth learned that her son Peter, then 8 years old, had been sold illegally
by Dumont to an owner in Alabama. With the help of Quaker activists, she
took the issue to court and, after months of legal proceedings, got her son
back.[2]
Truth had a life changing religious experience during her stay with the Van
Wagenen's, and became a devout Christian. In 1845 she moved with her son
Peter to New York City, where she worked as a housekeeper for Elijah
Pierson, a Christian Evangelist. In 1834, she met Robert Matthews, also
known as Matthias Kingdom or Prophet Matthias, and went to work for him as a
housekeeper.[2] In a bizarre twist of fate, Elijah Pierson died, and Robert
Matthews and Truth were accused of stealing and poisoning Pierson. Both were
acquitted and Robert Matthews moved west.[3]
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. When the ship returned to
port in 1842, Peter was not on board and Truth never heard from him
again.[2]
"The Spirit calls me"
On June 1, 1843, Truth changed her name to Sojourner Truth and told friends,
"The Spirit calls me, and I must go." She left to make her way traveling and
preaching about abolition. In 1844, she joined the Northampton Association
of Education and Industry in Massachusetts. Founded by abolitionists, the
organization supported women's rights and religious tolerance as well as
pacifism. There were 210 members and they lived on 500 acres (2 km˛),
raising livestock, running a sawmill, a gristmill, and a silk factory. While
there, Truth met William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and David
Ruggles (an African-American printer). In 1846, the group disbanded, unable
to support itself.[3] In 1847, she went to work as a housekeeper for George
Benson, the brother-in-law of William Lloyd Garrison. In 1849, she visited
John Dumont before he moved west.[2]
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.[3] That same year, she purchased a home
in Northampton for $300.
In 1851, she left Northampton to join George Thompson, an abolitionist and
speaker. In May, she attended the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron,
Ohio where she delivered her famous speech Ain't I a Woman, a slogan she
adopted from one of the most famous abolitionist images, that of a kneeling
female slave with the caption "Am I Not a Woman and a Sister?"[6][2]
Reminiscences by Frances D. Gage
Akron Convention, Akron, Ohio, May 1851
"There were very few women in those days who dared to "speak in meeting";
and the august teachers of the people were seemingly getting the better of
us, while the boys in the galleries, and the sneerers among the pews, were
hugely enjoying the discomfiture, as they supposed, of the "strong-minded."
Some of the tender-skinned friends were on the point of losing dignity, and
the atmosphere betokened a storm. When, slowly from her seat in the corner
rose Sojourner Truth, who, till now, had scarcely lifted her head. "Don't
let her speak!" gasped half a dozen in my ear. She moved slowly and solemnly
to the front, laid her old bonnet at her feet, and turned her great speaking
eyes to me. There was a hissing sound of disapprobation above and below. I
rose and announced "Sojourner Truth," and begged the audience to keep
silence for a few moments."
"The tumult subsided at once, and every eye was fixed on this almost Amazon
form, which stood nearly six feet high, head erect, and eyes piercing the
upper air like one in a dream. At her first word there was a profound hush.
She spoke in deep tones, which, though not loud, reached every ear in the
house, and away through the throng at the doors and windows."[7]
Over the next decade, 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.[2] In 1856,
she traveled to Battle Creek, Michigan, to speak to a group called the
Friends of Human Progress. In 1858, someone interrupted a speech and accused
her of being a man; Truth opened her blouse and revealed her breasts.[2][3]
"Ain't I a Woman?"
Truth delivered her best-known speech in 1851 at the Ohio Women's Rights
Convention. The speech has become known as Ain't I a Woman? after Truth's
refrain.[8]
The speech as shown here has been revised from the 19th century dialect in
which Truth spoke.
“ Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out
of kilter. I think that 'twixt the Negroes of the South and the women at the
North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon.
But what's all this here talking about?
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 ever
helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place!
And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and
planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a
woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it -
and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen
children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with
my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it?
[member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got
to do with women's rights or Negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a
pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my
little half measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights
as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where
did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with
Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside
down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and
get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it. The men better
let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more
to say.
”
--Sojourner Truth
On a mission
Truth sold her home in Northampton in 1857 and bought a house in Harmonia,
Michigan, just west of Battle Creek.[3] 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).[2]
During the Civil War, Truth helped recruit black troops for the Union Army.
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 met President Abraham
Lincoln.[2] In 1865, while working at the Freedman's Hospital in Washington,
Truth rode in the streetcars to help force their desegregation.[2]
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."[10]
In 1870, Truth tried to secure land grants from the federal government to
former slaves, 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 and tried to vote in
the presidential election, but was turned away at the polling place.[8]
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, and Susan B. Anthony."[10]
Truth died on November 26, 1883, at her home in Battle Creek, Michigan. Her
remains were buried there at Oak Hill Cemetery beside other family members.
Her last words were "Be a follower of the Lord Jesus."[11]
Cultural/modern references
* 1862 -- William Story's statue, The Libyan Sibyl", inspired by Sojourner
Truth, won an award at the London World Exhibition.[3]
* 1892 -- Albion artist Frank Courter is commissioned to paint the meeting
between Truth and President Lincoln.[2]
* 1975 -- Philosopher Peter Singer uses Truth's quotes in his book Animal
Liberation [12]
* 1981 -- Truth is inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca
Falls, New York.[2]
* 1981 -- Feminist theorist and author, bell hooks, titles her first major
work after Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" speech.
* 1983 -- Truth is in the first group of women inducted into the Michigan
Women's Hall of Fame in Lansing.[2]
* 1986 -- U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring
Sojourner Truth.[2]
* 1997 -- The NASA Mars Pathfinder mission's robotic rover was named
"Sojourner" after her.[13]
* 1998 -- S.T. Writes Home appears on the web offering "Letters to Mom from
Sojourner Truth," in which the Mars Pathfinder Rover at times echoes its
namesake.
* The leftist group the Sojourner Truth Organization is named after her.
* The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commemorates her as a renewer
of society on March 10, with Harriet Tubman.
* In the computer game Civilization IV, Sojourner Truth is one of the Great
Prophets.
Books
* Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave (1850).
o Dover Publications 1997 edition: ISBN 0-486-29899-X
o Penguin Classics 1998 edition: ISBN 0-14-043678-2. Introduction & notes by
Nell Irvin Painter.
o University of Pennsylvania online edition (html format, one chapter per
page)
o University of Virginia online edition (html format, 207 kB, entire book on
one page)
* Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz, The Kingdom of Matthias: A Story of Sex
and Salvation in 19th-Century America (New York and Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1994) ISBN 0-19-509835-8
* Carleton Mabee with Susan Mabee Newhouse, Sojourner Truth: Slave, Prophet,
Legend (New York and London: New York University Press, 1993) ISBN
0-8147-5525-9
* Nell Irvin Painter, Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol (New York and
London: W. W. Norton & Co., 1996) ISBN 0-393-31708-0
* Erlene Stetson and Linda David, Glorying in Tribulation: The Lifework of
Sojourner Truth (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1994) ISBN
0-87013-337-3
* William Leete Stone, Matthias and his Impostures- or, The Progress of
Fanaticism (New York, 1835) Internet Archive online edition (pdf format,
16.9 MB, entire book on one pdf)
* Gilbert Vale, Fanaticism - It's Source and Influence Illustrated by the
Simple Narrative of Isabella, in the Case of Matthias, Mr. and Mrs. B.
Folger, Mr. Pierson, Mr. Mills, Catherine, Isabella, &c. &c. (New York,
1835) Google Books online edition (pdf format, 9.9 MB, entire book on one
pdf or one page per page)
References
1. ^ Wood, Norman B. White Side of a Black Subject Chicago: American
Publishing, 1897. sourced from Portrait page. UTOPIA.utexas.edu. Retrieved
on December 30, 2006.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Amazing Life page. Sojourner Truth
Institute site. Retrieved on December 28, 2006.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sojourner Truth page. Women in History site.
Retrieved on December 28, 2006.
4. ^ Sojourner Truth page. Narrative of Sojourner Truth. Retrieved on
December 28, 2006.
5. ^ Sojourner Truth page. Michigan Womens Hall of Fame. Retrieved on
December 28, 2006.
6. ^ Virtual Exhibitions - artifacts of the Abolitionist movement page.
Daughters of the American Revolution site. Retrieved on December 28, 2006.
7. ^ Sojourner Truth page. Women History. Retrieved on December 28, 2006.
8. ^ a b Sojourner Truth Page. American Suffragist Movement. Retrieved on
December 29, 2006.
9. ^ Sojourner Truth Page. Fordham University. Retrieved on December 30,
2006.
10. ^ a b Sojourner Truth page. Sojourner Truth Biography. Retrieved on
December 28, 2006.
11. ^ People of Faith: Sojourner Truth. Public Broadcasting Service.
Retrieved on February 22, 2007.
12. ^ See What Is Animal Liberation? Excerpts From Philosopher Peter
Singer's Groundbreaking Work. Accessed 4 December 2006.
13. ^ NASA, NASA Names First Rover to Explore the Surface of Mars. Accessed
4 December 2006.
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