was born a New
York slave in 1797. At birth her name was Isabelle VanWagener
(some references use the name Isabelle Baumfree). She was freed by a New
York law which proclaimed that all slaves twenty-eight years of age and
over were to be freed. In her later life, she was inspired by God and
changed her name to Sojourner Truth. She joined the Anti-Slavery Society
and became an abolitionist lecturer and a speaker for women's rights
both black and white. After the Civil War, she spoke for equal rights.
She died on November 26, 1883.