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This memorial was made at the site where Sojourner Truth gave her most famous speech, "Ain't I a Woman?" She gave the speech at a women's rights conference in Alkron, Ohio on May 29, 1851.

Citation: https://remarkableohio.org/marker/6-77-site-of-sojourner-truths-speech-on-womens-rights/

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Sojourner Truth was born on land owned by Johannis Hardenbergh in 1797. The picture is of one of the buildings on his estate.

Citation: https://www.womenshistory.org/exhibits/sojourner-truth

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This is the tombstone of Sojourner Truth. It is located in Battle Creek, Michigan in the Oak Hill Cemetery. Although the stone says she was 105 years old, she was actually around 86 years old when she died.

Citation: https://epiphanyinbmore.blogspot.com/2016/08/visiting-final-resting-spots-of.html

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This is a picture taken in or before 1864 of Sojourner Truth. She sold them to raise money for different causes she supported. The caption, "I Sell the Shadow to Support to Substance", means that she used her identity and devoted her life, or sold her shadow, to support her people.

Citation: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/301989

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Sources: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sojourner-truth

https://www.womenshistory.org/exhibits/sojourner-truth#:~:text=In%20her%20final%20years%2C%20Truth,daughters%20in%20Battle%20Creek%2C%20Michigan.&text=Sojourner%20Truth%20died%20of%20old,Michigan%20on%20November%2026%2C%201883

https://www.history.com/articles/sojourner-truth

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In 1799, New York passed a law that meant children born after July 4, 1799 to enslaved parents would be free when they reached their late 20’s. Until then, they would have to work for their mother’s master with no pay. However, this law didn’t affect anyone born before 1799, so in 1817, New York passed another law that would make slavery illegal as of July 4, 1827. Part of the law stated that enslaved people couldn’t be sold out of state until they were emancipated. Even after that law was passed, Truth’s old master, John Dumont, sold her son, Peter, to someone in Alabama. With the help of the Van Wagnear family, Truth sued Dumont to get her son back. She said that because of the emancipation law, Dumont shouldn’t be allowed to sell an enslaved person and that she should get her son back. In late 1828, Truth won the lawsuit and recovered her son. This made her the first black woman to sue a white man and win.

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On May 29, 1851, Sojourner Truth delivered her most famous speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” at a women’s rights convention in Akron, Ohio. In the speech, she said that women could be just as strong as any man could, even though men thought that they needed people to help them with everything. Truth said that she was just as strong as any man, even though she was a woman. While this version of the speech is accepted to be the most accurate, no one knows for sure. Several versions of her speech were published in different newspapers from the time, but none of the accounts were written at the time of her speech. The version that is most accepted was written in a newspaper called the Anti-Slavery Bugle by Marius Robinson. He was a secretary at the convention and wrote about the speech less than a month after it was given. The version of the speech that gave it its name was written 12 years after the speech by Francis Gage, who was the president of the convention. However, this account of the speech is most likely inaccurate. In the account, she says that Truth spoke with a southern accent and southern dialect, even though Truth was from New York. Gage also says that Truth had 13 kids, while she only had 5. Even though the speech was altered in multiple ways, it was very influential for many people.

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In 1799, New York made a law that would make children born enslaved in 1799 free once they reached a certain age. Female children would be free by the age of 25 and male children would be free by the age of 28. However, until then, they would have to serve their mother’s master. Because the law only freed children born in 1799, anyone born before then was unaffected. So, on March 31, 1817, New York made another law that would gradually free more enslaved people until 1827. Because of this law, Truth’s master, John Dumont promised Truth that she would be freed on July 4th, 1826. But he lied! When the day came that he said he’d free Truth, he didn’t. So, Truth took her infant daughter and left the estate early in the morning so she wouldn’t be spotted. She went to New Paltz, New York, where she met the Van Wageners. They took her in as a free person, but Dumont found her and wanted to bring her back. Instead of sending Truth back with Dumont, the Van Wageners bought her services until the day Truth would be freed in 1827 for $20.

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I tried to upload the video into the post but it didn't work so here's a link instead

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Sojourner Truth once said, “Why children, if you have woman’s rights give it to her and you will feel better,”. She said this in one of her most famous speeches, “Ain’t I A Woman?” While the actual contents of the speech are debated, it was a very influential speech. Sojourner Truth was born in 1797 onto the estate of Johannis Hardenbergh as an enslaved person. When she escaped slavery, she became a member of the Klyn Esopus Dutch Reformed Church, which motivated her to become a women’s rights activist and abolitionist. During the Civil War, she helped organize supplies and recruit African American men for the Union army.  She was very important to the cause of the abolishment of slavery. After the Civil War, she worked for an organization that helped formerly enslaved people find work. She also gained many signatures on a petition to Congress that would grant previously enslaved people land, but Congress never did anything about it. Her actions, from her escape from slavery to her help in the Civil War effort, show that people would be willing to risk their lives for freedom.

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Alexander, Kerri Lee. “Sojourner Truth.” 24 January 2019, https://www.womenshistory.org/exhibits/sojourner-truth#:~:text=In%20her%20final%20years%2C%20Truth,daughters%20in%20Battle%20Creek%2C%20Michigan.&text=Sojourner%20Truth%20died%20of%20old,Michigan%20on%20November%2026%2C%201883. Accessed 18 May 2025.

Edwards, Rebecca. “Sojourner Truth - Quotes, Facts & Speech | HISTORY.” History.com, 29 October 2009, https://www.history.com/articles/sojourner-truth. Accessed 18 May 2025.

HISTORY.com Editors. “Sojourner Truth delivers powerful speech on African American women’s rights.” History, 04 May 2021, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-29/sojourner-truth-delivers-aint-i-a-woman-speech. Accessed 18 May 2025.

Kelly, Thomas. “When Did Slavery End in New York?” Historical Society of the New York Courts, 7 June 2017, https://history.nycourts.gov/when-did-slavery-end-in-new-york/. Accessed 18 May 2025.

“Life Story: Sojourner Truth - Women & the American Story.” Women & the American Story, https://wams.nyhistory.org/a-nation-divided/antebellum/sojourner-truth/. Accessed 18 May 2025.

Michals, Debra. “Biography: Sojourner Truth.” National Women's History Museum, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sojourner-truth. Accessed 18 May 2025.

“Sojourner Truth Bust.” Architect of the Capital, https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/sojourner-truth-bust. Accessed 18 May 2025.

“Sojourner Truth: First African American Woman to Win a Lawsuit.” Historical Society of the New York Courts, 22 September 2021, https://history.nycourts.gov/sojourner-truth-first-african-american-woman-to-win-a-lawsuit/. Accessed 18 May 2025.

“Sojourner Truth (U.S.” National Park Service, 29 May 2022, https://home.nps.gov/people/sojourner-truth.htm. Accessed 18 May 2025.

Truth, Sojourner. “Unknown | Sojourner Truth, "I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance."” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/301989. Accessed 18 May 2025.

Walker, Malea, et al. “Sojourner Truth's Most Famous Speech | Headlines & Heroes.” Library of Congress Blogs, 7 April 2021, https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2021/04/sojourner-truths-most-famous-speech/. Accessed 18 May 2025.

“When Did Slavery End in New York State?” The New York Historical, https://www.nyhistory.org/community/slavery-end-new-york-state. Accessed 18 May 2025.

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Sojourner Truth, as well as many other activists before, during, and after her time, made the lives of women and african americans significantly better. Truth helped many formerly enslaved people improve their lives after the Civil War. Before  that, she was an influential speaker on the topics of women’s rights and the abolishment of slavery. Even after all her (and many others) work, women don’t have equal treatment to men. There are many fields where women don’t get paid as much as men do, and some people still view women as people whose only purpose is to make children and be a homemaker. Women don’t deserve to be stuck like this, they deserve to be treated equally. In order to get equality, we can go to protests and donate to charities to help. Maybe, if we put in enough effort, there can be complete equality.