“I am not going to die, I'm going home like a shooting star” - Sojourner Truth
(Sojourner Truth)
Sojourner Truth was born as Isabella Baumfree on an unknown date in 1797 in Swartekill, New York, USA. Baumfree was born a slave. She only knew how to speak Dutch due to having Dutch slave masters. In 1806 she was sold and brought to Kingston, NY. She was beat on a daily basis. In 1808 she was sold again. In 1810 she was sold and brought to West Park, NY. In 1815 she married an older slave named Thomas. In 1826 Baumfree left her slave master along with her infant child. In 1827 her emancipation was accepted by the state of NY. One of her sons was illegal sold in 1828 and after court hearings she was able to get him returned. She was one of the first Black women to go against a White man in court and win. In 1829 she moved to New York City, NY. In 1832 Baumfree and a friend were accused of murder but were acquitted. In 1843 she became a Methodist and changed her name to “Sojourner Truth”. She then traveled and preaching about abolition. In 1844 she joined the Northampton Association of Education and Industry. She met Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison during this time. In 1846 the group disbanded. In 1850 she published the book The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave.
(A drawing of Truth)
In 1851 Truth delivered the “Ain’t I a Woman” speech in Ohio. In 1853 she met Harriet Beecher Stowe while speaking at a convention in NY. In 1856 she spoke in MI. In 1858 during a speech she was accused of being a man and she proved them wrong by exposing her breasts. In 1857 she moved to MI. In 1860 she helped recruit Black troops for the Union.
(Truth in 1860)
In 1864 Truth was employed by the National Freedman's Relief Association in Washington, D.C. The same year she met president Lincoln.
(A drawing of Truth (Left) and President Lincoln (Right))
In 1865 Truth rode in the streetcars of Washington D.C. to help force their desegregation. In 1870 Truth tried to secure land grants from the federal government to former enslaved people. She also met president Grant.
(Truth in 1870)
In 1872 she tried to vote but was turned away. On November 26th 1883 Sojourner Truth died of natural causes in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA. She was about 86 years old.
(A statue of Truth)
Today is the 133rd anniversary of her death. Take time to remember this great abolitionist today.
Books by Sojourner Truth
- Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave (1850)
(P.S. sorry for the late post)
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