Encyclopedia > Sojourner Truth

  Article Content

Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth (1797? - 1883) was the self-given name of a woman born into slavery. The year of her birth is uncertain, and is usually taken to be 1797. Originally Isabella Van Wagener, she escaped to Canada in 1827.

After New York state had abolished slavery in 1829, she returned and worked as a domestic servant for over a decade, and joined Elijah Pierson[?] in evangelical preaching on street-corners.

Later in life she became a noted speaker for both the Abolitionist movement and the women's rights movement. Perhaps one of her most famous speeches was Ain't I A Woman?, a short but pointed commentary delivered in 1851 at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio.

During the American Civil War, she organized collection of supplies for the Union. In 1850, she worked with Olive Gilbert to produce a biography, the Narrative of Sojourner Truth.

See also: Slave narrative

References and external links



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Islip Terrace, New York

... 29.5% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 48 ms