Women’s History Month: Sojourner Truth
March 20, 2010
by Amy Siskind
|The following report was written by my son last March when he was in third grade. He also wanted you all to know that his teacher gave the class the option to write about famous women OR men, and that he was the only boy in the class to chose a famous woman.
Sojourner Truth
I chose Sojourner Truth because not many kids know her.
Sojourner was born some time in 1797. When Sojourner was a kid her name was Isabella. You may be wondering why she has no birth date because her slave owner never kept track of the slaves’ birthdays. Her slave owner was named Johannes Hardenbarg. If Sojourner was alive now she would be 212 years old in 1997 it was the 200th anniversary of Sojourner Truth.
Sojourner Truth is very famous for speaking out for women’s rights and the right for black people and women to vote. When Sojourner was 46 years old she changed herself. She changed her name to Sojourner and her last name to Truth because she was always honest and on June 1 she became a traveling preacher. Sojourner was a pastor when she got older.
An accomplishment for Sojourner was escaping slavery all by herself. If you think Harriet Tubman was braver than Sojourner think again. Other slaves went in groups.
Sojourner made a big difference in the country, world and the universe.
That is the cutest thing ever. Good for him for striking out and being courageous. He obviously takes after his mom.
Also, I agree, she did make a big difference in the country, world and universe!
“When Sojourner was 46 years old she changed herself.”
I don’t think this could be said more simply and beautifully. She changed herself.
Thank you for bringing us this unique aspect of Sojourner’s story, Jackson. I hope you’ll write about other famous, courageous women of your country.
I don’t think even our own Anna Belle could have said it better!!!!!Thanks Jackson for sharing this with us!!
Great post! Thank you for posting this. I like that you chose her because she was unknown.
Jackson,
You have made us aware; you’ve made us think about a courageous woman. Congratulations on your TNA blog, and I hope it will be the first of many.
Wonderful work, Jackson! I love your choice of Sojourner Truth and I love what you wrote about her!
Amy, your kids are so inspiring:) I hope they both will continue to post at TNA.
Dear Jackson,
Thank you for teaching us about Sojourner Truth. I learned a lot.
ER
The following report was written by Jackson, my 8 year-old son, who as chance would have it, picked Sojourner Truth as his topic for Women’s History Month. He also wanted you all to know that his teacher gave the class the option to write about famous women OR men
I can’t help but wonder if this teacher also gave kids the option to do their report for Black History Month on a famous white person?
Good for you, Jackson — Sojourner Truth is a great choice.
Thanks Sasha.
Go, Jackson! Your report inspired me to look up Sojourner and learn more about her. Her story is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
I can’t remember the exact quote from Sojourner Truth, where she said she could have saved so many more slaves, but she couldn’t convince them they were slaves.
Does it remind you of anybody?
I can’t remember the exact quote from Sojourner Truth, where she said she could have saved so many more slaves, but she couldn’t convince them they were slaves.
That quote is actually attributed to Harriet Tubman, not Sojourner Truth: “I could have saved thousands – if only I’d been able to convince them they were slaves.”
Your point is well taken though, Dulcy. In fact, Robin Morgan used the Tubman quote to make a similar point about women who just couldn’t bring themselves to support Hillary Clinton in her essay Goodbye To All That (#2). Not surprisingly, this didn’t go over too well on sites like Feministing . . .
I love Jackson’s post. A wonderful choice. I’m still in shock about the choice his teacher offered up…
A very interesting report on an interesting woman. Thanks for the information Jackson. I also am impressed that Amy is a feminist who sees the importance of bring along the next generation and also in letting many voices be heard. Having a voice and trading ideas is so important for women and we are lucky to live in this time of the internet without gate-keepers.
Leave your Response Want an avatar? Get a gravatar!
Community Room
February 6, 2012 at 4:25 pm
January 30, 2012 at 2:36 pm
January 26, 2012 at 4:38 pm
January 23, 2012 at 1:04 pm
January 15, 2012 at 11:37 am
January 9, 2012 at 6:36 pm
January 7, 2012 at 10:10 pm
January 5, 2012 at 9:31 am
BUILD your NETWORK
Our Network of College Women
Protecting our Teenage Girls
We’re in the Media »
Click to see our latest stories in the media
More Stories »Recent Comments
The Latest from our Blog
Archives
Pioneer Mentors
Blogroll
Find us Online
Subscribe Entries (RSS) | Comments (RSS)
The New Agenda is a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls by bringing about systemic change in the media, at the workplace, at school and at home. More...