SOJOURNER TRUTH

excerpt from  A SALUTE TO HISTORIC BLACK WOMEN,  Vol. 1, Empak "Black History" Publication Series

"Sojourner Truth, born Isabella Baumfree in 1797, was a pilgrim of freedom and a fervent women's rights activist.  She thundered against slavery from countless platforms.  For nearly 40 years, she traveled across the country lecturing on the two major issues of the time: abolition and the rights of the "lesser sex".  She was born in slavery...near Kingston, New York....Of how she came to be called Sojourner Truth she said, "I asked the Lord to give me a new name and He gave me Sojourner because I was to travel up and down the land showing the people sins and being a sign unto them.  Afterwards, I told the Lord I wanted another  name cause everybody else had two names; and He gave me Truth because I was to declare the truth unto the People"....the New York State Emancipation Act freed her in 1828...

"Sojourner was indeed a legend in her time.  Her work was not confined to anti-slavery and women's rights alone, but embraced all human rights that were being encroached upon or denied....The highlight of her life was when she was received by President Lincoln at the White House. She was well into her seventies before she retired."