I Am That I Am, Sojourner Truth, Sherry Whetstone

Sojourner Truth was an abolitionist and women’s rights activist who escaped from slavery with her infant daughter in 1826 or 1827. Born into slavery in New York state in 1797 as Isabella Baumfree, she later became a traveling evangelist and was perhaps the best known African American woman in the 19th century. She changed her name to Sojourner Truth in the 1840s or 1850s. As a feature of the lectures that she delivered in various locations, she became known for pithy, quotable statements. She assisted a migration of freed slaves in Kansas when she was nearly 80 years old. In 2014, Smithsonian Magazine counted her among the 100 most significant Americans of all time.