| Sojourner Truth |
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Sojourner Truth was the self-given name of an American
abolitionist born into slavery from Hurley, New York. Her original
name was Isabella Baumfree. The year of her birth is uncertain, but is
usually taken to be in 1797. She had five children while in slavery
with a man named Thomas Jeffery Harvey, whom she married. Her youngest
child was named Sophie, with whom she fled, finally ending up in Canada in
1827.
After New York state abolished slavery, she returned there in 1839, working as a domestic servant for over a decade and joining Elijah Pierson in evangelical preaching on street-corners. Later in life she became a noted speaker for both the Abolitionist movement and women's rights movement. |