Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth was an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist who is best-known for her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech on gender inequality that she delivered at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in 1851. Born into slavery, Truth escaped as a young woman and later successful sued her former owner to gain custody of her son, becoming the first African-American woman to win such a case against a white man. For more stories of African-American women throughout history, visit our African-American history section. For more stories about female abolitionists, visit the Slavery within Work/Labor.