Sojourner Truth (c. 1799-1883)
- Guidance
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This person of African descent has 4 related events in the database, listed at the bottom of this page.
This person is related to Rutgers University history. See our research guide Rutgers University & Slavery for more information about finding university affiliates and archival sources in our database.
This person is mentioned in the Rutgers virtual tour: Around Campus with Scarlet and Black .
- Record Title
- Sojourner Truth (c. 1799-1883)
- Identifier
- NJS-PER-00369
- Given Name
- Sojourner
- Family Name
- Truth
- Alternate Name
- Isabella Baumfree
- Isabella Bomefree
- Isabella van Wagenen
- Birth Date
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1799
Value Annotations
- Date Certainty
- Approximate
- Death Date
- 26 November 1883
- Sex
- Female
- Biographical Description
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Sojourner Truth was a famous Black abolitionist and women's rights advocate. She was born in bondage in Swartekill (near present-day Rifton), a hamlet in Hurley, Ulster County, New York. Her parents were James and Betsy Baumfree, who were enslaved to Johannes Hardenbergh Jr. (1729-1799), the brother of the first president of Queen's College (later Rutgers) Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh. Her name at birth was Isabella. Although the exact year and date of her birth is not known, we know that she was born shortly before New York began to gradually abolish slavery. Because she was born before the Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery went into effect on July 4, 1799, Isabella inherited her mother's status as an enslaved person.
Isabella was an infant when Johannes Hardenbergh Jr. passed away in 1799 and his son Charles Hardenbergh inherited Isabella and her parents. After Charles Hardenbergh's death in 1808, Isabella was sold at auction at the young age of 9, along with a flock of sheep, for 100 dollars. Until this age, Isabella grew up speaking Dutch, which was the language spoken in the Hardenbergh household.
After being sold several times in the next few years, she ended up at the household of John Dumont at West Park, New York. She lived there for about 16 years. She bore five children, one of whom was the result of a rape by John Dumont. In a defiant act of resistance, Isabella freed herself by leaving John Dumont's home together with her infant daughter Sophia in 1826 (months before she became eligible for legal emancipation under New York law). In her autobiography, she described how she "walked away" from John Dumont. She left behind her other children who were bound to serve John Dumont for a term until they could gain freedom under New York's gradual abolition law.
Upon gaining her freedom she adopted the name Isabella van Wagenen, taking the last name of the van Wagenen family who had sheltered and helped her. When she learned that her son Peter, who had been sold by John Dumont at age 5, was illegally taken across state lines to Alabama, she took the issue to court. She sued her son's new enslaver Solomon Gedney and won Peter's return to New York where he could become free. The case was one of the first times a black woman challenged a white man in court and won. In 2022, the New York State Archives in Albany announced that archivists had uncovered 8 pages of the 1828 court documents pertaining to the suit that was filed in the New York Supreme Court under the name Isabella van Wagenen. Previously, these documents were considered lost to history. The documents include the deposition given by Isabella van Wagenen, the writ of habeas corpus, Somolon Gedney's response, and the court order freeing Peter.
As a free woman, she became a devout Christian. She had a series of religious experiences that prompted her to change her name to Sojourner Truth and to preach publicly about the causes she cared about: the abolition of slavery and women's rights. In 1850, she published her life story in a book called The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. She dictated the book to Olive Gilbert. Sojourner Truth did not learn to read or write, but she was a noted orator well known for her moving speeches. She continued working for Black freedom until her death in 1883. - Keywords
- African descent person
- Rutgers University history
- Place of Significance
- Swartekill, Rifton, New York
- West Park, New York
- New York City, New York
- Battle Creek, MI
- Organization
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Rutgers University
- Relationship to Rutgers
- Namesake (Sojourner Truth Apartments named in 2017)
- Sibling of
- Peter Baumfree
- References
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Painter, Nell Irvin. Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996.
Washington, Margaret. Sojourner Truth’s America. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2009.
Van Rossum, Helene. “How Rutgers University Is Connected to Sojourner Truth: The Hardenbergh Family in Ulster County, NY.” What Exit? New Jerseyana at Rutgers University Special Collections and University Archives (blog), June 16, 2017. https://sinclairnj.blogs.rutgers.edu/2017/06/rutgers-connection-to-sojourner-truth-the-hardenbergh-family/.
Berry, Daina Ramey. “How Early Photographs Reveal the Indomitable Spirit of Abolitionist Sojourner Truth.” Biography, January 30, 2018. https://www.biography.com/news/sojourner-truth-black-history.
Crowe, Kenneth C. II. “State Archives Find Sojourner Truth’s Historic Court Case.” Times Union, February 1, 2022, sec. News. https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/State-Archives-find-documents-Sojourner-Truth-s-16816351.php.
- Record Contributor
- Jesse Bayker
- Linked Sources
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Author:
- Narrative of Sojourner Truth (Sojourner Truth. Narrative of Sojourner Truth. Edited by Olive Gilbert. Battle Creek, Michigan: Review and Herald Office, 1884.)
- Linked Events
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Primary Participant in:
- 1797 to 1799 Birth: Sojourner Truth (Role: Child)
- 1799 Transfer: Sojourner Truth, James Baumfree, Elizabeth Baumfree (Role: Transferred Person)
- 1808 Sale: Sojourner Truth (Role: Sold Person)
- 1808-05-12 Probate (of Charles Hardenbergh): Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Baumfree, Peter Baumfree, Sam (Role: Registered Person)
Part of Sojourner Truth (c. 1799-1883)
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