IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 21 

Commemorating the life and legacy of Sojourner Truth. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 11, 2023 

Ms. JACKSON LEE submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the life and legacy of Sojourner Truth. 

Whereas Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree to her 

slave parents James and Elizabeth Baumfree, in 1897 in 

Dutch-speaking Swartekill, Ulster County, New York; 

Whereas Sojourner Truth was born two years before ‘‘An Act 

for the Gradual Elimination of Slavery’’ became law in 

Pennsylvania, which consigned her to the status of slave 

for the rest of her life; 

Whereas Sojourner Truth, starting at the age of 9 and continuing into adolescence, was bought and sold 4 times 

and bore at least 5 children, but lived to overcome her 

hardscrabble beginning to become one of the most famous and influential women of the 19th century; 

Whereas, in 1827, the year before a New York law freeing 

slaves took effect, Sojourner Truth escaped from bondage 


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with her infant daughter Sophia and sought refuge with 

staunch abolitionists Maria Van Wagener and her husband Dr. Isaac Van Wagener; 

Whereas for 20 dollars the Van Wageners bought Sojourner 

Truth’s freedom and helped her successfully sue for the 

return of her 5-year-old son Peter, who had been illegally 

sold into slavery in Alabama; 

Whereas, in 1828, Sojourner Truth moved to New York City 

to work for a local minister and, by the early 1830s, her 

reputation of being a charismatic speaker was becoming 

well known; 

Whereas, in 1843, Sojourner Truth declared that the Holy 

Spirit called on her to preach the truth, renaming herself 

Sojourner Truth; 

Whereas Sojourner Truth used her divinely inspired gift of 

speech to advocate for equal treatment of all persons, including the right of all women to enjoy the same privileges and immunities the Constitution bestowed upon 

men; 

Whereas the most famous expression of Sojourner Truth’s 

deeply held conviction that all women were entitled to 

equal treatment under the law came in her address at the 

Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio on May 29, 1851, 

in which she declared, ‘‘That man over there says that 

women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over 

ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody 

ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or 

gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at 

me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and 

gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And 

ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much 


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as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as 

well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I 

cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard 

me! And ain’t I a woman?’’ and ‘‘If the first woman God 

ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside 

down all alone, these women together ought to be able to 

turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now 

they is asking to do it, the men better let them.’’; 

Whereas the enduring legacy of Sojourner Truth is her steadfast belief that all men and women are created equal— 

a refrain that is echoed in the ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ speech 

given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 

1963, by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; 

Whereas, in the 1850s, Sojourner Truth settled in Battle 

Creek, Michigan, where 3 of her daughters lived and continued to speak nationally and help to resettle slaves who 

had escaped to freedom; 

Whereas at the onset of the Civil War, Sojourner Truth 

urged free Black men to join the Union Army cause and 

worked to organize supplies for Black troops; 

Whereas after the Civil War, Sojourner Truth was honored 

with an invitation to the White House and became involved with the Freedmen’s Bureau, helping freed slaves 

find jobs and build new and better lives; 

Whereas Sojourner Truth continued her advocacy for human 

and civil rights for former slaves as she fought against 

de jure segregation; and 

Whereas, at 63 years of age, Sojourner Truth stood up to a 

streetcar conductor who tried to violently block her from 

riding, predating and modeling the courage of Rosa 


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Parks, who less than 100 years later stood up for justice 

by sitting down: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) the life of Sojourner Truth reflects the ex4 perience of millions of women of African descent 

5 brought to the Americas in violence and in violation 

6 of their human rights to be the progenitors of slaves, 

7 but who not only survived that existence, but thrived 

8 to shape new paths to an awakening of how people 

9 view race and gender; 

10 (2) Sojourner Truth demonstrates the indomi11 table will of people everywhere who yearn to be free 

12 and overcome impossible odds to win freedom for 

13 themselves and others; and 

14 (3) Sojourner Truth reflects the best American 

15 tradition of using one’s courage and intellect to 

16 transcend societal limits to reinvent and renew the 

17 American Dream and pass it on to succeeding gen18 erations, endowing them with the freedom to unleash 

19 their imagination and pursue their dreams. 

Æ 


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