Narrative of Sojourner Truth (Sojourner Truth – Slave Narratives)

Narrative of Sojourner Truth written by Olive Gilbert based on information provided by Sojourner Truth.. Sojourner Truth, born Isabella “Bell” Baumfree: c. 1797 – November 26, 1883, was an African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, Ulster County, 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. Her best-known speech was delivered extemporaneously, in 1851, at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.