Sojourner Truth:  A Life, A Symbol  (1996)
by Nell Irvin Painter

Excerpted from the book jacket:
"Sojourner Truth: ex-slave and fiery abolitionist, figure of imposing physique, riveting preacher and spellbinding singer who dazzled listeners with her wit and originality. Straight talking and unsentimental, Truth became a national symbol for strong black women -- indeed, for all strong women. Like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, she is regarded as a radical of immense and enduring influence; yet unlike them, what is remembered of her consists more of myth than of historical fact.

"Now, in a masterful blend of scholarship and sympathetic understanding, eminent historian Nell Irvin Painter goes beyond the myths, words, and photographs to uncover the life of a complex woman who was born into slavery and died a legend. Inspired by religion, Truth transformed herself from a domestic servant named Isabella into an itinerant Pentecostal preacher; her words of empowerment have inspired black women and poor people the world over to this day. As an abolitionist and a feminist, Truth defied the stereotype of "the slave" as male and "the woman" as white -- expounding a fact that still bears repearing: among blacks three are women; among women, there are blacks.

"No one who heard her speak ever forgot Sojourner Truth, the power and pathos of her voice, and the intelligence of her message. No one who reads Painter's groundbreaking biography will forget this landmark figure and the story of her courageous life."

Nell Irvin Painter is Edwards Professor of American History at Princeton University and the author of Standing at Armageddon: The United States, 1877-1919, Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas after Reconstruction, and The Narrative of Hosea Hudson.

Of interest . . .

An interview with the author aired on Booknotes in December 1996.