Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth (born Isabella Baumfree; c. 1797 – November 26, 1883) was an American abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights, women's rights, and alcohol temperance. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son in 1828, she became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man.
She gave herself the name Sojourner Truth in 1843 after she became convinced that God had called her to leave the city and go into the countryside "testifying to the hope that was in her." Her best-known speech was delivered extemporaneously, in 1851, at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. The speech became widely known during the Civil War by the title "Ain't I a Woman?",
Source: Library of Congress: Sojourner Truth: A Resource Guide
History of “Ain’t I A Woman”
At the 1851 Women's Rights Convention held in Akron, Ohio, Sojourner Truth delivered what is now recognized as one of the most famous abolitionist and women's rights speeches in American history, “Ain't I a Woman?” She continued to speak out for the rights of African Americans and women during and after the Civil War.
A comparison of Two Versions of Ain’t I A woman
Source: The Sojourner Truth Project
Original Publication from the Anti-slavery Bugle. June 21, 1851,
Reading of “Ain’t I A Woman ?”
Fatima Quander reads "Ain't I a Woman?" a speech originally delivered by Sojourner Truth at the Women's Rights Convention, Old Stone Church, Akron, Ohio, 1851.
The Folger’s annual “Not Just Another Day Off” program celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday with readings of poetry and historical speeches. In 2019, award-winning poet Marilyn Nelson joined us to share her work. Actors Sara Barker, Jeremy Hunter, and Fatima Quander read speeches originally delivered by Dr. King, Shirley Chisholm, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and others.