Sojourner Truth was an African American abolitionist and women’s rights activist. She is well known for her speech "Ain’t I A Woman?” that she delivered at the Women’s Rights Convention in 1851. Born into slavery, Truth escaped with her infant daughter in 1826. Sojourner was the first black woman to successfully challenge a white man in a United States court. Truth also brought a slander suit against a couple who accused her of being involved in the death of her boss, and won. In 1844, she joined the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in Northampton, Massachusetts. Founded by abolitionists, the organization supported a broad reform agenda including women's rights and pacifism. 

In 1850 her memoirs were published under the title The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave. That same year, Truth spoke at the first National Women's Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts. She soon began speaking to large crowds on the subjects of slavery and human rights. She sought political equality for all women, and chastised the abolitionist community for failing to seek civil rights for black women as well as men. She openly expressed concern that the movement would fizzle after achieving victories for black men, leaving both white and black women without suffrage and other key political rights.

Submitted by Mary Graham