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Sojourner Truth
1864
Unidentified Artist, Sojourner Truth, c. 1797 - 26 Nov 1883
Born Hurley, New York
- Title:
- Sojourner Truth
- Creator:
- Unidentified Artist, Sojourner Truth, c. 1797 - 26 Nov 1883
- Date Created:
- 1864
- Description:
Born Hurley, New York
In 1843, sixteen years after gaining her freedom, Isabella Baumfree changed her name to Sojourner Truth and emerged as one of the nation’s foremost abolitionists. Speaking throughout the country, she supported her antislavery campaign through sales of her book, the Narrative of Sojourner Truth (1850), and by selling copies of her photograph, which carried the caption, “I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance.”
Truth continued to call for slavery’s abolition during the Civil War and rejoiced when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation (1863). Eager to assist the many refugees from enslavement who were flocking to Washington, D.C., she traveled there in 1864. Appointed by the National Freedmen’s Relief Association to serve as “counselor to the freed people” at Freedmen’s Village—the camp established by the federal government at Arlington Heights, Virginia—Truth earned praise for her “great service rendered to the Freedmen and their families.”
Nacida en Hurley, Nueva York
En 1843, a los 16 años de haber obtenido su libertad, Isabella Baumfree cambió su nombre a Sojourner Truth y pasó a ser una de las más notables abolicionistas de la nación. Daba charlas a lo largo del país y costeaba su campaña antiesclavista vendiendo su libro Historia de Sojourner Truth (1850) y fotografías suyas con la inscripción “Vendo la sombra para mantener la sustancia”.
Truth siguió abogando por la abolición de la esclavitud durante la Guerra Civil y se regocijó cuando Lincoln emitió la Proclamación de Emancipación (1863). Deseosa de ayudar a los muchos refugiados afroamericanos que venían en masa a Washington D.C., ella también vino en 1864. La Asociación Nacional de Socorro a los Libertos la nombró “consejera de las personas libertas” en Freedmen’s Village, el campamento creado por el gobierno federal en Arlington Heights, Virginia. Allí recibió elogios por el “gran servicio prestado a los libertos y sus familias”.
Item details
- Partner:
- Smithsonian Institution
- Contributing Institution:
- National Portrait Gallery
- Subjects:
- Women
Shawl
Society and social change
Interior decoration
Outerwear
Dress accessories
Portraits
Home Furnishings
Carte-de-visite
Lecturer
Eyeglasses
Educators
Furnishings
Reformers
Design
Photography
Abolitionists
Chairs
Seating
Costume
Tables
Photographic format
Education and Scholarship
Enslaved person
Truth, Sojourner
Furniture
Chair
Dress Accessory
Table
Interior
Studio
Sojourner Truth
Female
Educator
Society and Social Change
Reformer
Abolitionist
Portrait - Type:
- image
- Format:
- Albumen silver print
- Standardized Rights Statement:
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
- Rights:
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution