⏱ 335 words, 1.5 minutes
A Black woman activist from upstate New York who spoke, preached, and advocated for causes inspired by her religious beliefs.
Originally born Isabella Bomfree and enslaved at birth in 1797, she freed herself in 1827 and renamed herself Sojourner Truth after experiencing a religious awakening in 1843.
Truth spoke often and persuasively in favor of abolishing slavery, promoting greater rights for women, and limiting the sale of alcoholic beverages.
Arguably her most famous speech, called “Ain’t I A Woman?” spoke to the particular experience of Black women in the United States facing intersecting prejudices against their race and gender.
Sojourner Truth was a key figure in 19th-century social movements, and her life helps us understand the Abolition movement, the Women’s Suffrage movement, and the Temperance movement.
Truth’s identity as a formerly-enslaved Black woman complicates historical narratives that place educated white women at the center of social movements in the 1800s.
Truth never learned to read or write in the traditional sense, but she had a powerful ability to communicate ideas and to “read” people.
Despite her lack of formal education, Truth was an incredibly successful speaker and author (via dictation).
In addition to the spoken word, Truth communicated powerfully through images, including calling cards (“cartes-de-visite”) that she sold with her photograph on them.
Start by looking through the Library of Congress’ research guide on Sojourner Truth, and see if there are particular sources that speak to themes covered in your class.
Explore Truth’s use of images, particularly portraits, to communicate ideas and support her advocacy work.
Design a Zoom In inquiry activity to help students notice key details and make meaning from images of Sojourner Truth and her contemporaries.
Extend your study of the power of images in movements for equality by examining photographs created in the aftermath of riots against integration of the Sojourner Truth Houses in 1942.
6 - 8 9 - 12 Social Studies/History Literacy Freedom Equality Black History