Artist Unknown, "Sjourner Truth" photograph, 19th c.Truth, Sojourner:

(1797-1883) Born into slavery in New York, Truth's orginal name was Isabella Baumfree. As a child she learned fast about the horrors of slavery; her master Jon Neely would beat her daily and raped her often. After being sold again and eventually let free, she worked for a family, but had to leave her children (expcept one) behind. Later she learned that her son was sold ilegally to a man in Alabama. With the help of the family she was working for, Truth got her son back, sued the slave trader, and won the case. This was the first time a black woman won a case against a white man.

Years later, Truth began to dictate to her life story to a friend and William Lloyd Garrison published her book "The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a Northern Slave.

Truth was also involved in the women's suffragist movement. She gave her most well-known speech, Aint I a Woman? at the 1851 Ohio Women's Rights Convention.

Source: http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/people/sojourner_truth.html