Sojourner Truth (born Isabella Bomefree; about 1797–November 26, 1883) was an American abolitionist and activist who worked to end slavery, support African-American civil rights, and promote women's rights and alcohol temperance. She was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. In 1828, she went to court to recover her son and became the first Black woman to win a legal case against a white man.

In 1843, she chose the name Sojourner Truth after believing God had called her to travel and share her message. Her most famous speech was given in 1851 at the Ohio Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio. The speech became widely known during the Civil War and was later published in 1863 with a version written in a dialect similar to that spoken in the South. However, Sojourner Truth grew up speaking Dutch as her first language.

During the Civil War, Truth helped encourage Black men to join the Union army. After the war, she tried but failed to get the federal government to give land to formerly enslaved people, as promised in the idea of "forty acres and a mule." She continued to fight for the rights 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 showed that Black women existed and their voices mattered."

In 2009, a memorial bust of Truth was unveiled 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

Sojourner Truth believed she was born between 1797 and 1800. She was one of 10 or 12 children born to James and Elizabeth Bomefree (also spelled Baumfree). Her father was a slave taken from what is now Ghana, and her mother, nicknamed "Mau-Mau Bet," was the daughter of slaves taken from an area in Guinea. Her father was called "Bomefree," which Truth said meant "tree" in Dutch. Colonel Hardenbergh purchased James and Elizabeth Bomefree from slave traders and kept their family at his estate in an area called Swartekill, near modern-day Rifton, New York. When Truth was a baby, her brother and sister were sold to another estate. Her family remembered the children, and her mother taught them to pray. Truth’s first language was Dutch, and she spoke with a Dutch accent for the rest of her life. Charles Hardenbergh inherited his father’s estate and continued to own slaves as part of the property.

When Charles Hardenbergh died in 1806, nine-year-old Truth (known as Belle) was sold at an auction with a group of sheep for $100 (about $2,059 in 2025) to John Neely near Kingston, New York. Before this, Truth only spoke Dutch. After learning English, she continued to speak with a Dutch accent, not a typical dialect. She later described Neely as cruel, saying he beat her daily with a bundle of rods. In 1808, Neely sold her for $105 (about $2,116 in 2025) to Martinus Schryver, a tavern keeper in Port Ewen, New York, who owned her for 18 months. Schryver then sold her in 1810 to John Dumont in West Park, New York.

Dumont repeatedly raped Truth, and tension existed between her and Dumont’s wife, Elizabeth Waring Dumont, who harassed her. Around 1815, Truth met and fell in love with a slave named Robert from a nearby farm. Robert’s owner, Charles Catton Jr., a painter, forbade their relationship because he did not want slaves he owned to have children with people he did not own. One day, Robert secretly visited Truth. When Catton and his son found him, they beat Robert severely. Dumont finally stopped the beating. Truth never saw Robert again, and he died a few years later. This experience stayed with Truth for the rest of her life. Eventually, Truth married an older enslaved man named Thomas. She had five children: James, who died as a child; Diana (born in 1815), who was the result of a rape by John Dumont; and Peter (1821), Elizabeth (1825), and Sophia (around 1826), who were born after she and Thomas were together.

Freedom

In 1799, the State of New York started passing laws to end slavery, but the process of freeing enslaved people in New York was not finished until July 4, 1827. Dumont had promised to give Truth her freedom a year before the state’s emancipation, "if she would do well and be faithful." However, he later changed his mind, saying a hand injury had made her less productive. Truth was angry but kept working, spinning 100 pounds (45 kg) of wool, to fulfill her sense of duty to him.

In late 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 completed their service 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 traveled to the home of Isaac and Maria Van Wagenen in New Paltz, who welcomed her and her baby. Isaac offered to buy Truth’s services for the rest of the year (until the state’s emancipation took effect), which Dumont agreed to for $20. She lived there until the New York State Emancipation Act was approved a year later.

Truth learned that her son Peter, who was 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 lawsuit against Peter’s new owner, Solomon Gedney. In 1828, after months of legal proceedings, she regained her son, who had been mistreated by his owners. Truth became one of the first Black women to go to court against a white man and win the case. Court documents related to this lawsuit were rediscovered by staff at the New York State Archives around 2022.

In 1827, she became a Christian and helped start the Methodist church in 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, a leader of a group that followed Jewish beliefs. She worked 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 letters proving her reliability as a servant. The trial then focused on the reported beating of Matthews’ daughter, for which he was found guilty and sentenced to three months in jail and an additional thirty days for contempt of court. This event led Truth to leave the group in 1835. Afterward, she moved to New York City and stayed there 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 mentioned he had sent five. Peter said he 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

In 1843, a major change happened in Sojourner Truth’s life. On June 1, which was Pentecost Sunday, she decided to take a new name: Sojourner Truth. She chose this name because she believed the Spirit of God was telling her to share the truth with others. She told her friends, “The Spirit calls me, and I must go,” and then she left her home to travel and speak out against slavery. She carried only a few belongings in a pillowcase and traveled north, working as she moved through the Connecticut River Valley toward Massachusetts.

At that time, Truth began attending meetings held by the Millerite Adventist group. This group followed the teachings of William Miller from New York, who taught that Jesus would return to Earth between 1843 and 1844, ending the world. Many people in the Millerite community liked Truth’s speeches and songs, and she attracted large crowds when she spoke. However, when Jesus did not return as expected, Truth became distant from her Millerite friends for a time.

In 1844, Truth joined the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in Florence, Massachusetts. This group was started by people who opposed slavery and supported women’s rights, religious freedom, and peace. The association had 240 members total during its four-and-a-half years, though no more than 120 lived there at once. Members lived on 470 acres of land, raising animals, operating a sawmill, a gristmill, and a silk factory. Truth worked in the community, managing laundry tasks for both men and women. During this time, she met important figures like William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and David Ruggles. Encouraged by the group, she gave her first speech against slavery in 1844.

In 1845, Truth moved into the home of George Benson, who was the brother-in-law of William Lloyd Garrison. In 1846, the Northampton Association closed because it could not support itself financially. In 1849, she visited John Dumont before he moved west.

Truth began writing her life story with the help of her friend Olive Gilbert. In 1850, William Lloyd Garrison published her book, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: a Northern Slave. That same year, she bought a home in Florence for $300 and spoke at the first National Women’s Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1854, using money from selling her book and small picture cards labeled, “I sell the shadow to support the substance,” she paid off the mortgage on her home, which had been held by her friend Samuel L. Hill from the community.

"Ain't I a Woman?"

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 gave a famous speech on women's rights, later called "Ain't I a Woman?" Her speech asked for equal human rights for all women. She also spoke as a former enslaved woman, linking the fight against slavery with the fight for women's rights. She used her experience as a worker to support her calls for equal rights.

The convention was organized by Hannah Tracy and Frances Dana Barker Gage, who were present when Truth spoke. Different versions of her speech have been recorded. The first version was published in the Anti-Slavery Bugle a month later by Rev. Marius Robinson, the newspaper's editor and owner, who was in the audience. Robinson's version did not include the question "Ain't I a Woman?" nor did other newspapers at the time. In 1863, Gage published another version that was very different. In this version, Truth's speech sounded like it might have been spoken by Black slaves in the southern United States, and the speech was much different from Robinson's report. Gage's version became the most widely shared one, and it is known as "Ain't I a Woman?" because that question was repeated four times. It is unlikely that Truth's speech pattern was like this, as she was born and raised in New York and spoke only a dialect called upper New York State low-Dutch until she was nine years old.

In the version recorded by Rev. Marius Robinson, Truth said:

In contrast, Gage's 1863 version included Truth saying her 13 children were sold away from her into slavery. However, Truth is widely believed to have had five children, with one sold away, and she was never known to claim having more children. Gage's 1863 account of the convention conflicts with her own report from 1851, where she wrote that Akron and the press were generally friendly to the women's rights convention. In 1863, she wrote that the convention leaders were worried about opponents who might cause trouble. Other eyewitness reports described Truth's speech as calm and joyful, with no interruptions. Contemporary reports said that Truth was warmly received by the audience, most of whom were abolitionists who supported ideas about race and civil rights. In Gage's 1863 version, Truth was met with hisses and people shouting to stop her from speaking. Other meetings of Black and white abolitionist women had sometimes faced violence, such as the burning of Pennsylvania Hall.

According to Frances Gage's 1863 account, Truth said, "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 speech showed how Black women were not recognized during this time, and this lack of recognition continued long after her life. Angela Davis wrote that Black women were "virtually invisible" in the long fight for women's right to vote, supporting Truth's argument that nobody gave her "any best place," or any special treatment, and that this was true not just for her but for Black women in general.

From 1851 to 1853, Truth worked with Marius Robinson, the editor of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Bugle, and traveled around Ohio speaking to audiences. In 1853, she spoke at a suffragist meeting called a "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

Northampton Camp Meeting – 1844, Northampton, Massachusetts: During a camp meeting where she was speaking as a traveling preacher, a group of young men caused trouble. They refused to leave and threatened to burn the tents. Truth noticed the fear among the people and hid behind a trunk in her tent, thinking the crowd might target her first because she was the only Black person there. She decided to act. As the noise grew and another preacher became nervous, Truth climbed a hill and sang a hymn about the resurrection of Christ. Her powerful voice, singing "It Was Early in the Morning," calmed the crowd. The men asked her to sing, speak, and pray. After an hour, she asked them to leave after one more song. They agreed and left.

Abolitionist Convention – 1840s, Boston, Massachusetts: William Lloyd Garrison invited Sojourner Truth to speak at an antislavery meeting. Wendell Phillips was scheduled to speak after her, which made her nervous because he was a famous speaker. To prepare, Truth sang a song she wrote called "I Am Pleading for My People," using the tune of "Auld Lang Syne."

Mob Convention – September 7, 1853: At the event, young men greeted her with loud, negative noises. Truth responded, "You may hiss as much as you please, but women will get their rights anyway. You can't stop us." She adjusted her speech based on the audience’s reaction. She spoke about women’s rights, using stories from the Bible, including the story of Esther. She told the crowd that, like women in the Bible, women today are fighting for their rights. She also reminded them that the Bible says, "Honor thy father and thy mother."

American Equal Rights Association – May 9–10, 1867: Truth spoke to the American Equal Rights Association in three parts. She was welcomed with cheers, as she had become more respected. The event’s program listed her as a main speaker. In the first part, she discussed the rights of Black women, arguing that since Black men had gained new rights, now was the time to give Black women equal rights too. She warned that if the fight for Black rights slowed, it might be hard to restart the push for Black women’s rights.

In the second part, she used a Bible story to support her argument for equal rights. She accused men of being selfish, 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." In the final part, she focused on women’s right to vote. She explained that women owned homes and paid taxes but still could not vote. She argued that if Black women had done hard work like building roads, they should be allowed to vote because voting is easier than manual labor.

Eighth Anniversary of Negro Freedom – New Year’s Day, 1871: Boston newspapers reported that the event was very popular, with crowds filling every space. Truth began by sharing her life story. She described how her mother told her to pray for good masters. She explained that her masters were cruel, and she was punished for not speaking English. She once hated white people but later found love through Jesus, her "final master." She said that after slavery ended, her prayers were answered. She then spoke about how some freed Black people relied on government aid. She argued that this was unfair and suggested giving Black people land in the West to build homes and live freely.

Second Annual Convention of the American Woman Suffrage Association – Boston, 1871: In a short speech, Truth said that women’s rights were important not only for women but also for all people. She said, "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

Sojourner Truth worked hard to help African Americans and women get equal rights. She fought for the end of slavery, the right to vote, and the right to own property. She was one of the first people to speak about the problems that African American women faced, which included both racism and slavery. As historian Martha Jones wrote, "When Black women like Truth talked about rights, they connected their ideas to ending slavery and fighting racism. Truth shared her own experiences, which showed that the women's movement could focus on helping everyone, not just some people."

In 1853, Truth helped reorganize the Michigan Anti-Slavery Society in Adrian, Michigan. This group was first created in 1836 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1856, Truth bought a piece of land in Northampton, but she sold it a year later. On September 3, 1857, she sold all her belongings to Daniel Ives and moved to Battle Creek, Michigan. There, she joined people who had formed the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Antislavery efforts had started in Michigan and Ohio before this. In Battle Creek, she also joined a group of abolitionists called the Progressive Friends, some of whom she had already met at national meetings. From 1857 to 1867, Truth lived in Harmonia, Michigan, a town known for its Spiritualist beliefs. Later, she moved to Battle Creek and lived at her home on 38 College Street 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).

During the Civil War, Truth helped African American men join the Union army. Her grandson, James Caldwell, joined the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. In 1864, Truth worked for the National Freedman's Relief Association in Washington, D.C., where she helped improve life for African Americans. That year, she was invited to the White House by President Abraham Lincoln. In 1865, while working at Freedman's Hospital in Washington, D.C., Truth rode in streetcars to help end their segregation.

Truth is believed to have written a song called "The Valiant Soldiers" for the 1st Michigan Colored Regiment. The song was said to have been written during the war and sung by her in Detroit and Washington, D.C. It was sung to the same tune as "John Brown's Body" or "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Although Truth claimed to have written the words, some people have questioned this (see "Marching Song of the First Arkansas").

In 1867, Truth moved from Harmonia to Battle Creek. In 1868, she traveled to western New York to visit Amy Post and continued traveling across the East Coast. At a speaking event in Florence, Massachusetts, after a long and tiring trip, Truth 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 get the federal government to give land to former enslaved people. She worked on this for seven years without success. While in Washington, D.C., she met with President Ulysses S. Grant in the White House. In 1872, she returned to Battle Creek, supported Grant's campaign for re-election, and tried to vote on Election Day. However, she was not allowed to vote at the polling place.

Truth spoke about ending slavery, women's rights, and prison reform. She also told the Michigan Legislature that the death penalty should not be used. Not everyone agreed with her, but she had many friends and support from important people of her 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

In her final years, Sojourner Truth was cared for by two of her daughters. A few days before her death, a reporter from the Grand Rapids Eagle visited her. At that time, her face was very thin and weak, and she seemed to be in great pain. However, her eyes were bright, and her mind was clear, even though she had difficulty speaking.

Sojourner Truth passed away early on the morning of November 26, 1883, at her home in Battle Creek. Her funeral took place on November 28, 1883, at the Congregational-Presbyterian Church. Reverend Reed Stuart, the church’s pastor, led the service. Prominent citizens of Battle Creek served as pallbearers, and nearly one thousand people attended the ceremony. She was buried in the city’s Oak Hill Cemetery.

Frederick Douglass delivered a eulogy for her in Washington, D.C. He described her as respected for her age, known for understanding people, and admired for her independence and bravery in standing up for herself. He also noted her dedication to helping her people and her long-standing influence on social reformers across the country.

Legacy

There have been many memorials built to honor Sojourner Truth, remembering her life and work. These include plaques, statues, and large sculptures.

The first historical marker for Sojourner Truth was placed in Battle Creek in 1935. A stone memorial was put in Stone History Tower in Monument Park. The State of Michigan honored her by naming highway M-66 in Calhoun County the Sojourner Truth Memorial Highway. This highway runs from the county line near Athens to Morgan Road in Pennfield Township, northeast of Battle Creek.

In 1999, which marked the estimated 200th anniversary of Sojourner Truth’s birth, a large sculpture of her by Tina Allen was added to Monument Park in Battle Creek. The 12-foot-tall statue is made of bronze.

In 1981, an Ohio Historical Marker was placed at the site of the Universalist "Old Stone" Church in Akron, where Sojourner Truth gave her famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech on May 29, 1851. In 2024, Sojourner Truth Legacy Plaza opened in Akron. It includes a statue of her created by Woodrow Nash, a sculptor from Akron.

In 1862, American sculptor William Wetmore Story completed a marble statue named The Libyan Sibyl, inspired by Sojourner Truth. The sculpture won an award at the London World Exhibition. The original was given 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 placed in front of the historic Ulster County Courthouse in Kingston, New York. The plaque was given by the Sojourner Truth Day Committee to mark the 100th anniversary of her death.

In 1990, New York Governor Mario Cuomo gave a two-foot statue of Sojourner Truth, made by 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 Sojourner Truth was unveiled at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park visitor center. The statue was created by A. Lloyd Lillie, Jr., and Victoria Guerina. It honored her famous 1851 speech in Akron, Ohio, and her role in the fight for women’s voting rights.

In 2013, a bronze statue of Sojourner Truth as an 11-year-old girl was placed in Port Ewen, New York, where she lived as an enslaved person. The sculpture was made by Trina Green, a sculptor from New Paltz, New York.

In 2015, the Klyne Esopus Museum placed a historical marker in Ulster Park, New York, to remember Sojourner Truth’s 14-mile walk to freedom in 1826. She walked from Esopus to Rifton, New York, along what is now Floyd Ackert Road.

In 2020, a statue was unveiled at Walkway Over the Hudson park in Highland, New York. The sculpture, made by Yonkers sculptor Vinnie Bagwell, was commissioned by the New York State Women’s Suffrage Commission. It includes text, braille, and symbols. The folds of her skirt show images of Sojourner’s life, such as an enslaved mother comforting her child, a slavery sale sign, and a poster for a women’s suffrage march.

On August 26, 2020, on the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, a statue honoring Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony was unveiled in Central Park, New York City. The sculpture, called Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument, was made by Meredith Bergmann. It is the first statue in Central Park to show historical women. A statue of Alice in Wonderland is the only other female figure in the park. The original plan included only Stanton and Anthony, but after feedback, Truth was added to the design.

In 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul dedicated Sojourner Truth State Park near her birthplace.

In 1999, a Mexican limestone statue of Sojourner Truth by sculptor Elizabeth Catlett was placed in Sacramento, California, on the corner of K and 13th Street. It was vandalized in 2013 and found broken into pieces.

In 2015, a bronze statue of Sojourner Truth by San Diego sculptor Manuelita Brown was placed on the campus of the Thurgood Marshall College of Law at the University of California, San Diego. The artist donated the sculpture to the college.

In 2002, the Sojourner Truth Memorial statue by Oregon sculptor Thomas "Jay" Warren was installed in Florence, Massachusetts, in a small park on Pine Street and Park Street, where she lived for ten years.

In 2009, a bust of Sojourner Truth was placed in the U.S. Capitol. The bust was made by artist Artis Lane and is in Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. This made her the first Black woman honored with a statue in the Capitol building.

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Writings

The book Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave (1850) has been published in multiple editions. The Dover Publications version from 1997 has the ISBN 0-486-29899-X. The Penguin Classics edition from 1998 has the ISBN 0-14-043678-2. Nell Irvin Painter provided the introduction and notes for these editions. The University of Pennsylvania offers an online version in HTML format, with one chapter on each page. The University of Virginia also provides an online version in HTML format, with the entire book displayed on a single page.