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Anti-slavery Activist

She called herself Sojourner Truth and no name could have been more appropriate. She spent thirty years of her life traveling across the land speaking out against slavery and in favor of woman suffrage. Everywhere she went, her spellbinding voice and passionate message stirred both blacks and whites to actions.

Sojourner Truth began life as the slave Isabella. She took as her last name Van Wagener, the family name of the owner who freed her in 1827. As a free person, she fought a successful court battle to have her son, who had been illegally sold, returned to her. Two years later, she moved to New York, where she lived until 1843.

During her years in New York City, she had an increasingly strong desire to speak out against slavery. She joined an anti-slavery society and developed her speaking and debating techniques. She took the name Sojourner Truth in 1843 and began to travel, spreading her message of justice. Her autobiography provided her with an income large enough to enable her to travel. (Never having learned to read or write, she had dictated the book.)

Sojourner Truth traveled throughout New England for seven years before moving to the Midwest. When the Civil War began, she became involved in the war effort, collecting supplies for the black regiments. In 1864, she led the successful fight to integrate the streetcars in Washington, DC. Following that victory, the nationally renowned activist had a meeting with President Abraham Lincoln in the White House.

The influence of Sojourner Truth was felt throughout the nation. Across her chest she wore a banner that read: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." She lived her life by these words from the Bible.

FLASH-FACTS

Traveled throughout the United States speaking against slavery
Participated in the early fight for woman suffrage
Coordinated the successful movement to desegregate the streetcars in Washington, DC