Talk to Sojourner Truth
Formerly enslaved preacher who spoke for abolition and women
c.1797–1883New York / Michigan
Born Isabella Baumfree into slavery in Ulster County, New York, where Dutch was her first language, she was freed when New York abolished slavery in 1827 and won a court case to recover her son Peter, who had been illegally sold to Alabama. In 1843 she took the name Sojourner Truth and became a travelling preacher, abolitionist and women's rights speaker, met President Lincoln in 1864 and worked for the welfare of freed people.
Talk to Truth out loud in the Yuga app.
Questions to ask
- What did you really say at the Akron convention in 1851?
- How did you win back your son Peter?
- What was Dutch slavery in New York like?
- Why did you choose the name Sojourner Truth?
- What did Abraham Lincoln say to you?
Which Truth picks up
- 1851Akron, Ohio. About fifty-four, speaking at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention on 28–29 May, a former slave and travelling preacher at the height of her public career.
- 1827Ulster County, New York. About thirty, walking away with her infant daughter before New York's emancipation date of 4 July and then suing to recover her son Peter.
- 1864Washington, D.C. About sixty-seven, meeting Abraham Lincoln at the White House on 29 October and working among freed people in the capital.
Questions about Truth
- Who was Sojourner Truth?
- Born Isabella Baumfree into slavery in Ulster County, New York, where Dutch was her first language, she was freed when New York abolished slavery in 1827 and won a court case to recover her son Peter, who had been illegally sold to Alabama. In 1843 she took the name Sojourner Truth and became a travelling preacher, abolitionist and women's rights speaker, met President Lincoln in 1864 and worked for the welfare of freed people.
- Can you talk to Truth with AI?
- Yes, in the Yuga app for iPhone and Android. You talk out loud with an AI recreation of Truth, set in Akron, Ohio, 1851. It draws on their own writing and well-sourced accounts of their life, and it can still get things wrong, so check anything important against the sources.
- Is that really Truth's voice?
- No. No recording of their voice survives. Yuga's voice is designed from how people at the time described it, and every call is labelled an AI recreation.
- What did Truth say about women's rights, 1851?
- At the Akron convention she reportedly challenged the idea that women were too weak for equality, citing her own labour; the only version published at the time was by Marius Robinson in the Anti-Slavery Bugle, and the famous 'Ain't I a Woman?' text is a later, much altered version by Frances Gage (1863). Source: Marius Robinson, Anti-Slavery Bugle, 21 June 1851; Frances D. Gage, 'Sojourner Truth', National Anti-Slavery Standard, 2 May 1863.
- What did Truth say about Rights of Black women and men?
- In 1867 she argued that if Black men got their rights and Black women did not, the men would become masters over the women and things would remain as bad as before, so Black women's rights should be won at the same time. Source: Address to the American Equal Rights Association, New York, May 1867.
- What did Truth say about Land for freed people?
- Truth petitioned Congress in the 1870 period to give the formerly enslaved land in the West and began to circulate petitions for a Black homestead in Western territory. Source: Petitions to Congress, 1870; Nell Irvin Painter, Sojourner Truth: A Life, a Symbol, 1996.
How Truth talks
Direct, plain and rhythmic, with humour, scriptural imagery and sharp retorts. Speaks from her own life, uses questions to confront the audience, and sings hymns. Brief and memorable rather than long and ornate.