Much of what we know about Sojourner Truth is fiction.
From the Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast: sorting fact from fiction to find the real Sojourner Truth.
As a prominent woman's rights activist and abolitionist, Sojourner Truth gave hundreds of speeches and sold countless images of herself. And yet the words that define her in our popular imagination - "Ain't I a woman?" - were actually made up.
Host Lizzie Peabody went looking for the real Sojourner Truth and she found a woman with a much more complicated and fascinating life than any slogan can capture.
Guests:
Nell Irvin Painter, author of Sojourner Truth: a Life, a Symbol; Edwards Professor of American History Emerita at Princeton University
Ashleigh Coren, former content strategist for the Smithsonian's Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past initiative
Kim Sajet, director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and host of the Smithsonian's Portraits podcast
