Celebrating Sojourner Truth – A 19th Century "No Limits" Abolitionist and Suffragette

By No Limits on 02/17/2009 @ 01:30 PM

Guest Post from Leecia Eve

Sojourner Truth was an extraordinary American hero, and thanks to the work of Hillary Clinton in the Senate and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in the House, Sojourner will finally be recognized with a statue in the Capitol -- the first African American woman to be so honored!

Born into slavery as one of the youngest of thirteen children of James and Elizabeth in Ulster County, New York, in 1797, Sojourner Truth’s given name was Isabella Baumfree. As almost all of her brothers and sisters had been sold to other slave owners, some of her earliest memories were of her parents’ stories of the cruel loss of their other children.

In 1817, the New York State Legislature passed a Gradual Emancipation Act, which granted freedom to those enslaved who were born before July 4, 1799. Unfortunately, however, this law declared that many men, women and children could not be freed until July 4, 1827, ten years later. While still enslaved and at the demand of her then owner, John Dumont, Isabella married a man named Thomas, who was also enslaved and with whom she had five children.

As the expected date of her release approached, Isabella learned that Dumont was planning to keep her enslaved, even after the Emancipation Act went into effect. In 1826, she left the Dumont plantation with her infant child Sophia, leaving behind her husband and other children, who were not legally free until they had served as bound servants into their twenties. She discovered that a member of the Dumont family had sold her youngest son Peter, then only five years old, to a plantation owner in Alabama. Isabella believed the sale of her son Peter was illegal under New York law. As one of her many courageous actions, Isabella went court to file suit and won his return.

In 1843, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth – her name for a traveling preacher, one who speaks the truth – and left New York. She traveled throughout New England, where she met and worked with abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, and Frederick Douglass. Her life story, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave, written with the help of friend Olive Gilbert, was published in 1850.

While traveling and speaking in states across the country, Sojourner Truth met many women abolitionists and noticed that although women could be part of the leadership in the abolitionist movement, they could neither vote nor hold public office. It was this realization that led Sojourner to become an outspoken supporter of women’s rights.

In 1851, she addressed the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, delivering her famous speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” The applause she received that day has been described as “deafening.” From that time on, she became known as a leading advocate for the rights of women. She became one of the nineteenth century’s most eloquent voices for the cause of anti-slavery and women’s rights.
By the mid-1850s, Truth had earned enough money from sales of her popular autobiography to buy her own home. After the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 was issued, she worked in Washington as a counselor and educator through the National Freedman’s Relief Association and the Freedmen’s Hospital for those who had been enslaved. During the 1872 Presidential election, she attempted to vote, but was turned away at the polling place. Despite these and other challenges, until her death in 1883, Sojourner Truth continued to fight for justice for women and African Americans.

Introducing the Sojourner Truth legislation, Hillary said: "I am proud that finally a memorial to Sojourner Truth will take its rightful and permanent place in the heart of our representative government, the United States Capitol. For generations to come, visitors to our nation’s capitol will learn about her courage, perseverance and historic contribution in the face of incredible hardship. This is a fitting and long overdue tribute to a woman who deserves to be honored as a true American hero."

During Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and throughout the year, I hope each of us will carry a little bit of Sojourner Truth in our hearts and souls as she was clearly a woman who embodied the belief that there are no limits to what is possible.

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Leecia Roberta Eve most recently served as Senior Policy Advisor to the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign. Leecia is a former candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York and Counsel to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. As Senate Counsel, Leecia worked on the Sojourner Truth legislation. She is also the Founder and Chairperson of SHOW UP New York, an organization focused on increasing the level of civic participation among young people and people of color across New York State.

For more than four years, Eve led Senator Clinton’s homeland security team and advised her on issues including civil rights, crime, economic development, election reform, and judicial nominations. Eve drafted the Domestic Defense Fund Act of 2005, legislation introduced by Senator Clinton to provide critical homeland security resources directly to cities, counties, and first responders using a threat and risk-based formula. Eve also worked with voting rights and civil rights organizations to draft the Count Every Vote Act of 2005, which Senator Clinton also introduced. A New York Times editorial described the legislation as the “gold standard for election reform.” Eve has also served as a National Advisor on Election Reform for the American Democracy Institute.

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