Ain't I a Woman? Sojourner Truth's Legacy (Famous Americans Series)

In Episode 9 of "Check This Out!", join hosts Cece and Amy as they enlighten young listeners about the remarkable life of Sojourner Truth, a celebrated American abolitionist and women's rights advocate. While many may not have encountered her story in school (yet), this episode serves as a captivating introduction to her legacy.

The episode kicks off with a poem that captures key moments from Sojourner’s life. The hosts delve into her journey from slavery to freedom and activism. With interactive trivia and fun facts, Cece and Amy make history come alive, encouraging listeners to think critically about the past and its relevance today.

Tune in for an inspiring discussion on Sojourner Truth’s impactful life, her relationships with historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, and her commitment to social reform. 

Don’t forget to subscribe for more adventures in history!

Transcript

Cece: Welcome to “Check this out!” A podcast series for kids

Amy: (and their grownups) where we explore interesting people, places, and ponderings that shape the world around us.   My name is Amy Contreras and I’m Cece! Welcome to episode 9- before we dive in please  make sure you subscribe to our channel.  

Episode 9 of Check this out is all about famous American abolitionist Sojourner Truth and her life in the 1800s.  You may have not learned about Sojourner yet in school, but she is a famous American worth knowing.  And We like to think of our episodes as little introductions to interesting people, places, and ponderings throughout history.  

Cece “Well hello nice to meet you” 

It is indeed time to meet and get to know Sojourner Truth!  We are going to switch things up for this episode and instead of making you wait until the end for our poem about Sojourner Truth we are going to start with the poem!  

Cece LIsteners keep your ears open 

Because in the poem you’ll get some snippets about Sojourner Truth’s life - but don’t worry we will go deeper and give you a ton of fun facts and opportunities to research 3 additional facts on your own at the end!  

Born in a time of chains, she fought enslavement to be free,
Named Isabella Baumfree, her spirit filled with glee.
In New York, her journey of speaking and activism began,
She escaped with her babe in the night, a courageous woman. 

Breaking chains, she named herself Sojourner Truth, she traveled far and wide,
For the rights of women and black people, she stood and spoke with pride.
Her voice rose powerful at at women’s rights halls ,
“Ain’t I a Woman?”  rang in the ears of all 

From slavery’s dark grip to the fight for the women’s rights,
She championed for justice, a true guiding light.

The book of her struggle, and speeches changed many minds,
Sojourner’s legacy—activism and equality for all kind! 

Cece: I’m excited to learn more 

Sojourner Truth is one of the most powerful advocates for human rights in the nineteenth century- let’s learn a bit more about who she was!   Sojourner Truth was born an enslaved child in 1797  in Ulster County, New York.  Her birth name was Isabella Baumfree. If you’ve listened to our other episode on Harriet Tubman you might be confused that she was born into slavery in New York, which is in the northern United states. You might be thinking “amy and cece wasn’t slavery only allowed in the south?”   Just hang on because I’ll explain more about that in a moment.  

Truth was bought and sold to new masters 4 times while she was enslaved.  As a child she was religious and had visions or heard voices, which she attributed to God.   While she was enslaved she didn’t marry but had a partnership with an enslaved man named Thomas.  They had 5 children together.   

She escaped enslavement in 1826 which was just a year before the law in New York changed to make slavery illegal.  So eventually slavery did become illegal in new york but it was after Sojourner was already in her late 20s.  When she ran to freedom she brought her infant daughter with her. She escaped and stayed with an abolitionist family who was against slaver.   The family Truth escaped to ended up being big helpers to her journey to freedom. 

Cece How mama? 

The family bought her freedom for twenty dollars and helped her successfully secure the return of her five-year-old-son, who had been illegally sold into slavery in Alabama. 

Cece: They sound really nice 

Sojourner Truth was the first African American woman to win a lawsuit in the United States; when she fought for her son's freedom after he had been illegally sold.

Here is another interesting fact about Sojourner’s time in enslavement.  Her first language wasn’t English.  Do you want to guess what it was? Was it… 

1. French 
2. Dutch
3. German

If you guessed B, great job!  Her first language was dutch!  Her first master was a Dutch Colonel.   

After her escape from enslavement, she moved to New York City and got involved in the church.  

She became a popular religious speaker at church events and in 1843 she took the name Sojourner Truth. She explained her new name as this… she picked  "Sojourner because I was to travel up and down the land showing people their sins and being a sign to them, and Truth because I was to declare the truth unto the people."

Check this out! 

Sojourner Truth never learned to read or write in her lifetime but was a popular and well respected speaker at public events!  Part of why this is amazing is she did have an autobiography published during her life.  She was able to get her book published by dictating it to an author.  This means she told her life story to an author who helped turn it into a book.  

Let’s see if you can guess what her autobiography was called! Was it…. 

1. The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
2. A song of Freedom and Truth 
3. My life’s story 

If you guessed A you’re correct! 

Her autobiography, the narrative of sojourner truth helped her have income in the later parts of her life.  It was published in 1850 and helped her gain notoriety and meet women’s rights activists, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.  

Mama what does women’s right’s activists mean? 

During the 1800s and early 1900s, women and women's righ’s organizations worked to gain the right to vote- which they did not have at the time. But they also worked for economic and political equality and for general social reforms. As an example,  between 1880 and 1910, the number of women employed in the United States increased from 2.6 million to 7.8 million. Thanks in large part to the advocacy of women’s rights groups.  

During the 1850’s, Truth settled in Battle Creek, Michigan, where three of her daughters lived. She continued traveling, speaking nationally, and helping enslaved people in the south escape to freedom. 

Reminder: The civil war happened in the United States from April of 1861 to May, 1865

In 1851, she traveled around on a lecture tour that included a women’s rights conference where she delivered her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech. Of all her speeches this is one of her most famous.  Her speech “aint i a woman” challenged ideas about racial and gender equality. It highlighted the unique struggles faced by Black women in their fight for equality and rights. Truth's eloquence and personal experiences lent significant weight to her advocacy, making her a vital figure in both the abolitionist and early feminist movements. 

Cece: Plus…

Sojourner Truth was tall! Almost 6 feet.  This made her a force in any room she entered or spoke in!  

Sojourner Truth's impact extended beyond her speeches; she was also involved in various social reform movements, including 

• the campaign for universal suffrage (the right to vote) 
• The rights of formerly enslaved individuals 

Her dedication to social change earned her recognition as a significant figure in American history. 

One of the hard challenges that women’s rights activists faced as they were fighting to vote was which group they were fighting for.  Was it white women? Black men? Black women?  In other episodes you’ve heard me mention that white women gained the right to vote in 1920 with the passing of the 19th amendment but black women didn’t gain the right to vote until 1965.  Sojourner was focused on intersectional fights for rights across race and gender.  

Cece: I don’t know what that word means mama 

Intersectionality is a big word, and it is a little complicated.  But you can think of it like this.  Just like a puzzle, each person is made up of lots of different pieces, like their race, gender, physical ability, and religion. It’s impossible to understand the full picture until you put all the pieces together. Intersectionality is the combination of all those different identities that make up a whole individual.  So when Sojourner Truth was fighting for universal suffrage it wasn’t just for women.  It was for black women, black men, white women, etc. 

Like Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth played a role in the Civil War. 

I just reminded you earlier, do you remember when the Civil war took place?  Was it 

1. 1860-1864
2. 1861-1865
3. 1865-1869 

The answer is B! 

During the civil war in 1861-1865 Sojourner used her travel and speaking platforms to encourage men to join the Union cause in the Civil War.  She also organized supplies for Black troops. 

She also traveled to Washington, DC, where she lobbied against segregation.  

Reminder: We talked about segregation in our episode on Dr Martin Luther King Jr.  But the quick reminder is this before the civil rights act (which didn’t happen until almost 100 years later) places like streetcars, schools, and housing were segregated into white and colored.  

In the mid 1860s, a streetcar conductor tried to violently block Sojourner from riding because she was black. She made sure he got arrested and she won her case in court.  A black woman winning a court case was highly unusual and spoke to her respect and influence.   As a result of her work on desegregation she was received at the White House by President Abraham Lincoln.  

In 1864, Sojourner started work with the National Freedmen’s Relief Association counseling formerly enslaved people. She helped formerly enslaved people settle into life after slavery and supported them in doing things they’d never had to do before like find jobs, homes, schools,  and build new lives. And she collected thousands of signatures on a petition to provide formerly enslaved people with land. 

Check this out

Abraham Lincoln wasn’t the only president Sojourner Truth had the opportunity to meet.  See if you can guess the other president who she met and worked with! 

Was it

1.  President Andrew Johnson
2.  President James Buchanan 
3.  President Ulysses S. Grant

C was correct! She met Ulysses S grant through her work in the 1870s while she advocated to secure land grants from the federal government for former enslaved people.  Although her efforts failed she worked on Grant’s re-election campaign in 1872. In 1875 she retired to her home in Battle Creek, MI and she stayed in battle creek until her death in 1883.  

Sojourner Truth had a long and impactful life.  

Cece: Here are 3 of our favorite facts 

1. Sojourner Truth won 2 court cases in her life.  The first to bring back her son that was illegally sold into slavery and the 2nd was against the streetcar driver that tried to block her from riding.  Check out more about what that meant, why it was unusual, and how she won! 
2. Sojourner’s “Aint I a Woman” speech expanded thinking about what women’s rights meant and how to include black and lower income women and women of color into the conversation.  Check out the speech and consider which of her ideas were most interesting!  
3. Sojourner met lots of famous people in her life including 2 presidents, and many famous women’s right activists.  Learn about who else Sojourner worked alongside as she advocated for rights of formerly enslaved people and women.  

At the “check this out” we know it can be hard to know if information you find online is accurate!  We use verified sources to build the stories you hear about. 

Cece Our sources for this week's episode are 

The library of congress, encyclopedia britannica, national park service, women’s history.org, history.com 

Cece Thanks for listening See you next episode 

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

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sojourner-Truth 

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/educate/truth.html#:~:text=Sojourner%20Truth%20has%20the%20distinction,he%20had%20been%20illegally%20sold. 

https://www.nps.gov/articles/sojourner-truth.htm 

https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/progressive-era-to-new-era-1900-1929/womens-suffrage-in-progressive-era/#:~:text=During%20the%20late%201800s%20and,equality%20and%20for%20social%20reforms.