About Sojourner Truth

Power. Faith. Activism.

Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree around 1797 in New York as an enslaved person. She endured hardship and abuse but escaped to freedom in 1826 with her infant daughter. In 1843, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth, committing her life to preaching and activism.

Truth became a powerful voice for abolitionism and women's rights. In 1851, she delivered her most famous speech, "Ain't I a Woman?", at the Second Ohio Women's Rights Convention, which was held at the Universalist Stone Church in Akron, Ohio. Her impassioned words challenged prevailing notions of race and gender. The former site of the Universalist Stone Church is now the site of the Sojourner Truth Legacy Plaza, honoring her legacy.

Throughout her life, Truth tirelessly fought against slavery, racism, and inequality. During the Civil War, she aided the Union cause, helping recruit Black troops and advocating for freed slaves. She continued her activism even after the war, campaigning for land grants for former slaves and women's suffrage.

Sojourner Truth passed away in 1883 in Battle Creek, Michigan, leaving a legacy as a fearless champion of justice and a transformative figure in American history.

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“I am a woman’s rights.”

- Sojourner Truth

The Speech

Delivered on May 29, 1851.

May I say a few words? I want to say a few words about this matter.

I am a woman’s rights. I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than that?

I have heard much about the sexes being equal; I can carry as much as any man, and can eat as much too, if I can get it. I am as strong as any man that is now.

As for intellect, all I can say is, if women have a pint and man a quart - why can’t she have her little pint full? You need not be afraid to give us our rights for fear we will take too much, for we cant take more than our pint’ll hold.

The poor men seem to be all in confusion, and dont know what to do. Why children, if you have woman’s rights, give it to her and you will feel better. You will have your own rights, and they wont be so much trouble.

I cant read, but I can hear. I have heard the bible and have learned that Eve caused man to sin. Well if woman upset the world, do give her a chance to set it right side up again.

The Lady has spoken about Jesus, how he never spurned woman from him, and she was right. When Lazarus died, Mary and Martha came to him with faith and love and besought him to raise their brother. And Jesus wept - and Lazarus came forth.

And how came Jesus into the world? Through God who created him and woman who bore him. Man, where is your part?

But the women are coming up blessed be God and a few of the men are coming up with them.

But man is in a tight place, the poor slave is on him, woman is coming on him, and he is surely between-a hawk and a buzzard.

Drawing of the Universalist Stone Church, built in 1837.

Facts

  • At the age of nine, Sojourner Truth (born Isabella Baumfree) was sold at auction, along with a flock of sheep, for $100.

  • Sojourner Truth became the first Black woman to successfully sue a white man in a U.S. court, winning custody of her son who had been illegally sold into slavery.

  • Escaping slavery, Truth became a powerful voice in the abolitionist movement. Her leadership and unwavering dedication to equality stood alongside figures like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.

  • Sojourner Truth's famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech, delivered in Akron, Ohio, became a rallying cry for women's rights and abolition. However, historical controversy exists over the accuracy of the commonly circulated version, showcasing the complexities of preserving oral histories.