Civil Rights & Activism

Sojourner Truth

Born c. 1797 · Swartekill, New York · Joined the Ancestors November 26, 1883

Born into slavery and freed in 1826, Sojourner Truth became one of the most powerful voices for abolition and women's rights — her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech remains one of the most quoted in American history.

Known For

"Ain't I a Woman?" speech

Born As

Isabella Baumfree

Legacy

Abolitionist and suffragist

Born Isabella Baumfree into slavery in Ulster County, New York, she was sold several times as a child and endured years of brutal treatment. In 1826, she escaped to freedom with her infant daughter, and in 1828 became one of the first Black women to successfully sue a white man in court, winning back her son who had been illegally sold into slavery in Alabama.

In 1843, she took the name Sojourner Truth and began traveling the country as an itinerant preacher and abolitionist. Her famous 1851 speech at the Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio — "Ain't I a Woman?" — powerfully linked the struggles of Black people and women.

During the Civil War, Truth recruited Black troops for the Union Army and worked to help freed people find jobs and build new lives. She met President Abraham Lincoln at the White House in 1864 and continued advocating for the rights of Black people and women until her death.