1851, Sojourner Truth Addresses First Black Women’s Rights Convention
On this day May 29, 1851, American abolitionist and women’s rights activist, Sojourner Truth addresses the very first Black Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.
Sojourner Truth Famous Speech
Sojourner delivered her famous extemporaneous speech on women’s rights, later known as “Ain’t I a Woman?”.
Her speech required equal human rights for all women as well as for all blacks. Sojourner joined George Thompson in 1851.
Sojourner was born into slavery family in Swartekill, New York. However, she escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. In 1828, She went to court to reclaim her son. She became the very first black woman to win such a case against a white man.
In 2009, Truth becomes the first black woman honored with a bust in the U.S. Capitol. The bust was sculpted by written artist Artis Lane. It is in the Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.
