A legendary life
Sojourner Truth
Isabella Baumfree (later Sojourner Truth)
c. 1797 – November 26, 1883
Abolitionist and women's-rights advocate who transformed her experience of enslavement into a powerful campaign for freedom and equality.
Her story
A life that changed history
Born into slavery in New York, Isabella Baumfree escaped with her infant daughter in 1826 and later won a court judgment securing the return of her illegally sold son. In 1843 she adopted the name Sojourner Truth and began traveling as an abolitionist and women's-rights speaker. She published a dictated narrative, recruited Black soldiers during the Civil War, supported formerly enslaved people, and continued advocating for voting rights and other reforms until late in life.
“I sell the shadow to support the substance.”
Caption on photographs sold by Sojourner Truth, documented by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture