Representing Truth: Sojourner Truth's Knowing And Becoming .

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RepresentingTruth:SojournerTruth'sKnowingand BecomingKnownNell gnerofJune,1843,a womanknownTruthand beganan itinerantThe datechangedhernameto Sojournerministry.forin 1843,June1 sand gavethemthepowerto preachto strangers.in thebiblicalbookofActs,in whichtheheedLuke'snarrationTruthSojournerin theforeignHolySpiritmadethedisciplesspeakin softhewonderfulofGod.Godsaidthroughworks- already- thathe eandservantsspirituponall flesh,andmenand e1797,Isabellatookup .Thepowerin 1827,whenemancipationherfirstin NewYorkoftheHolySpirithad uallycoincided.State,Pentecost,a werreligiousexperienceremaineda crucialforceherlife- a sourceofinspirawithinPentecost,throughouttionanda nowingofbothmaterialand beingknownwerealwaysand epistemologicalsignificance.2ofAmericanHistoryat PrincetonNell IrvinPainteris theEdwardsProfessorUniversity.She wishesto sDavis,JoanHedrick,PatriciaHill,Dona Irvin,MaryKelley,Nellie David Blight,and David Thelen.1 changedoverthecourseofherlifetime.Herfatherwas knownas JamesBomefree,but as a slave,Isabellawas knownonlybyherfirstname. Her last employersinUlsterCounty,New York,werenamedVan Wagenen,the name she used until 1843; biographershavegenerallyused thatname. However,reportsin New YorkCityand recordsof the NorthamptonAssociationof Educationand Industryindicatethatin the mid-1840s,she was knownthereas "Isabel or IsabellaVanwagner,""Isabel orand "Mrs.Sojourner."IsabellaVanwagnen,"as wellas "Sojourner"See vol.5, Accounts,pp. 245, 251,NorthamptonAssociationofEducationand ty,Worcester,Mass.);vol.7, Day Book No. 4, pp. 24, 246, 149, 183, 209, 210,ibid. Acts2:1-18.2 [OliveGilbertand FrancesTitus],NarrativeofSojournerTruth;A Bondswomanof Olden Times,Emancipated by the New YorkLegislaturein the EarlyPartof the PresentCentury;Witha HistoryofHer LaborsandCorrespondenceDrawn FromHer "BookofLife"(1878; Salem,N.H., 1990), 62-71.The Journalof AmericanHistorySeptember1994461

haveignored,In thisessay,posingquestionsthatpreviousbiographers- as selfI willexaminehow SojournerTruthused language spokenand printedwithand how others,whitewomenwithmoreeducationand facilityfashioning,herin publishedphrasesthatbecamethe cultureof the printedword,portrayedpassesthe kind of sourcematerialmost congenialto historians.My trajectoryrelatedtoand some uryof the SojournerTruthpersonaby otherpeople, part of thethe constructionthatwordsalonegreats.I endwiththeobservationphenomenonthatI callinventedfortoand to passpowerherself,to presentthe imagesof herselfthatshe wantedremembered.3biograTruthhastaughtme thatifwearetowritethoughtfulon SojournerWorkingphies of people who werenot highlyeducatedand who did not leave generousdonehave traditionallycachesof personalpapersin the archiveswherehistorianstheirwork,we willneed to developmeansof knowingour subjects,and adapt aysofmakingthemselvesin 1843,whenSojournerTruth,thisdaughterBeginningon thatdayofPentecostsetoutundera newname,shereachedmanysortsofpeople,notstrictlyand servant,speakingin foreigntongueslikethe disciples,yetusingvariousverbaland visualvariouslanguages,so to speak. Overthe courseof hermeansof communication,and feminist,Truth(c. 1797-1883)used speech,careeras preacher,abolitionist,to conveyher messageand satisfyhermaterialneeds.writing,and photography"SojournerTruth,"whichtranslatesas itinerantpreacher,describedher tionofhouseholdworkerratherhood. This hauntingnewname expressedtwoof herthreemain preoccupations:As a workingwomanwho hadand distrust/credibility.transitoriness/permanenceto thybeenslavery,tenceforgranted,and so ess,IsabellaVanWagnerlivedin a worldfullofpeopleanxiousto be tyledProphetMatthiasin 32to 1835.4RobertMatthews,"kingdom,"in NewYorkCityProphetMatthias"and "theSpiritofTruth"whenhe proselytizedof his holiness.Hein the early1830s,convincedIsabella and her co-religionistsaroundhimin a gatheredYorkandofNewwest;by 1842chasedoutgoneCityhad beenMatthews/Matthiashe had died.5The ideal of the spiritof truthlivedon in his follower.(New York,1977),withpowercomesfromSusan Sontag,On Photography3The associationofphotography4, 9.4 See KarenHalttunen,Men and PaintedWomen:A StudyofMiddle-ClassCulturein America,ConfidenceUrbanMannersin F. Kasson,Rudenessand Civility:America(New York,1990).5 New YorkJournalSept.26, 1834;New YorkSept.26, 1834;New YorkCommercialAdvertiserofCommerce,of Matthias,see Paul E. JohnsontreatmentCourierand Enquirer,Oct. 2, 1834,April17, 1835. Fora full-lengthand Sean Wilentz,The Kingdomof Matthias(New York,1994).

KnownKnowingandBecomingTruth'sSojourner463When Isabella becameSojournerTruthin 1843,she was not merelyapproprispiritualleader,forshehad other,preexistingatingthecognomenofhererstwhileAs a girl,she had been nshe had foundherworddoubted.and sexuallyabused,and as an enslavedworker,jourto persuadea NewYorkfreethinkingIn ,to presentherstoryoftheMatthiasKingdom.In a bookwhoseValeButtheTruth,"-and NothingtheWholeTruthsubtitleended "Containing"the whole truth,""the"the truth,"conveyedher desireto present"the Truth,"In the 1820s, 1830s,and 1840s,when her concernsabout beingwholetruth."6believedwererecorded,she also wentto courttwiceovermattersof enormousfamilialand materialimportance.In 1828,in orderto regaincustodyof hersonPeter,illegallysold intoslaveryin Alabama,she had to convincea judge in UlsterCounty,New York,thatshewasherson'smother.Sevenyearslater,in WestchesterCounty,New York,she sued a coupleforlibel becausetheyhad chargedherwithpoisoning,an accusationruinousto someonewho made herlivingbycookingforsurelyreinotherpeople.In of herword.7forcedheranxietyoverthe integrityshewasliableto be doubtedand litigant,As an abusedchild,oppressedworker,thesethreekindsof exTakentogether,in situationsof the utmostseriousness.herselfthe choiceof her new name. ion,raisesa hostof questionsrelatedto knowledge,representation,thosequestionswhatI call knowingand beingknown;regardingcommunication,whichspeaksto anothersetare the subjectof thisessay.I will leave "Sojourner,"foranothertime.of graisestheMerelyaskingabout the educationof disperhapsto exaggerate,carriesthesubtitle"ALife,A Symbol"to howas borna slavein the Hudsonwomen,and thehistorical6 G[ilbert]Vale,Fanaticism;Its Sourceand Influence,Illustratedby the SimpleNarrativeofIsabella in theCase ofMatthias,Mr and Mrs.B. Folger,Mr Pierson,Mr Mills,Catherine,Isabella,&c. &c. A Replyto W L.- rties,Whileat Sing-Singandat ThirdStreet.the WholeTruth-andNothingBut the Truth(New York,1835),Pt. I, 3-6, 63.7On beatings,see [Gilbertand Titus],NarrativeofSojournerTruth,26-27, 33. On sexualabuse,see ibid.,29-31,81-82.The use ofcorporalpunishmentto disciplineslaveshas beenwidelyacknowledged.On thesale ofTruth'sson,followinga practicethatwasillegalbut nonethelesscommon,see ibid.,44-54. Althoughhismotherhad thelaw on herside,she was rareamongthepoor and uneducatedin beingable to exerciseherlegalrights.Forthemostfamouscaseofa New Yorkerkidnappedand sold South,see SolomonNorthup,TwelveYearsa Slave,ed. Sue EakinandJosephLogsdon(BatonRouge,1968).The slandercasegrewout ofthebreakupoftheMatthiasKingdom.Benjaminand Ann FolgeraccusedIsabellaofhavingattemptedto poisonthem;she countersuedandwon a 125 settlement.See Vale, Fanaticism,pt. II, 3, 116; and Johnsonand Wilentz,Kingdomof Matthias,167-68.

lleyof New Yorkin about 1797 and who created"SojournerTruth"at ajuncture.8specifichistoricalfashion,Truthcreateda personathatfilleda need inIn good twentieth-centuryAmericanpoliticalculture;both the cultureand the need stillexisttoday.Theslaveand uth,formerTheas theblackwomanin telady,Truthis tificialShe appearsto be naturaland spontaunsentimental.as straighttalking,authentic,she symbolizesa messageneous,and in the besttraditionof thatwomenwhohad been enslavedandof "woman"and "thewhosechildrenhad been sold be includedin thecategoriesNegro."Truthis usuallysummedup in a seriesAs a symbolofraceand whichis "Ar'n'tI a woman?"whichFrancesin Akron,Dana Gage reportedthatTruthutteredat a woman'srightsconventionNegro asOhio, in 1851.This phraseis sometimesrenderedmoreauthentically"Ain'tI a woman?"Truthis also knownforbaringherbreastbeforea skepticalaupost-BlackPowereraofthelatetwendiencein Indianain 1858.In thepost-1960s,tieth century,a fictive,hybridcameo of these two actionspresentsan angryexhibitsherSojournerTruth,who snarls,"And ain'tI a woman?"thendefiantlybreastioThe metonymicSojournerTruthhas knowledge,but no educationbeyondherin a nowledgeexperienceinenslavement,whichoccurredin a no-timeand a no-placelocated an abstractionoftheantebellumSouth,as opposedto theHudsonRivervalleyofNewYork,whereIsabellawas actuallyenslaved.What the symbolof SojournerTruthlearnedonceofAmerand forall in slaveryenablesherto analyzeand challengecommonplacesican raceand genderthought.Havingbeen a slavefrom1797to 1827,she needsheropinionsorhermethods.Of itself,foritcouldnotaffectno furtherinstruction,ormakinguseofit- ncingTruthto demand,"Ar'n'tI a woman?"figurativeof SojournerTruth,theknowledgeshe tookconstructionWithinthefigurativeIt wouldseemaudiencesdirectly.seemsto reachlatetwentieth-centuryfromslaveryso thatmemorypermanently,enteredhistoricalthatshe spokeand automaticallyforce.we stillhearhera centuryand a quarterlaterthroughherownoriginatingShe wouldseemto speakto us witha potencythatallowsherwordsto endurejustas she ging.This Sonorwouldshe learntechjournerTruthwouldnot takeadvantageof technology,8 Nell IrvinPainter,SojournerTruth:will be publishedinThis biographyA Life,A Symbol(forthcoming).1995 byW. W. Norton& Co.9 See JeanFagan Yellin,WlomenFeministsin AmericanCulture(New Haven,and Sisters:The Antislavery1989), 77-87; and Leo Braudy,The Frenzyof Renown:Fame and Its History(New York,1986), 450-583.10See Nell IrvinPainter,"SojournerTruthin Lifeand Memory:Writingofan AmericanExotic,"theBiographyGenderand History,2 (Spring1990), 3-16.

publicityfromthepeople aroundher.She wouldnot need to learnanyskillsin orderto makeherselfappealing,forthatwouldhavebeen herbirthright.Womenwithaccessto printwouldimmediatelyhaveseenheras memorable,andtheywouldhave recordedhertransparently,powerlessto shade the imagethatisnow so eagerlyconsumed.Both her knowledgeof the waythingswereand ourknowledgeofherwouldseemto be utterlynaturaland unvarying.Or so it wouldseem.Unlikethe emblematicSojournerTruth,the historicalfigure,whomI am callingIsabellawhenI speakofherlifebefore1843,had an educationthatbeganin slaverybutdid notend ghtherto sayone of the twostandardprayersof Christianity,the PaterNosteror Lord'sPrayer.(Isabella did not learntheother,the Credoor Apostles'Creed.)FromherparentsIsabellaalso storyscatteredchildrenthroughoutthe Northand conveyedthousandsof blackNewYorkersintoperpetualslaveryin the South.She was consciousof beinga survivoruntilshe reachedthe age of ten,whenherturnto be sold came. Her roughcorporalpunishment,and asa parentshe providedthe same sortof educationby beatingherown children.1"Itwasnotillegalin NewYorkStatetoteachslavesto readandwritewhenIsabellawasa child,and edinNewYorkin 1827,a fewveryfortunateslavesmanagedto din New YorkCityor othertownssuchas Albany,laywellbeyondIsabella'sreach.12As a ruralpersonand as a girl,Isabellaneverwentto school.Neitheras a childnor as an adult did she everlearnto read or write.Afterheremancipation,severalpeople triedto tutorher,forlikelatetwentiethcenturypeople, educatednineteenth-centurypeople tookliteracyas the signifierof modernityand saw readingas the bestmeansof acquiringknowledge.13Thenas now,an inabilityto readand writeseemedthesameas ignorance,althoughoftenthiswas not the case. Withoutdirectaccessto the ongwithothermeansofgatheringinformation.In bothregards,she belongedto gorin today'slargerworlds.Her wayswerethoseof people who are deeplyreligious,rural,female,poor,or unschooled.All thesecategoriesincludedAmericanswho11 IsabellamarriedThomas,a fellowslaveofJohnJ.Dumont,in about 1814.HerNarrativeprovidesa fewcluesas to thenatureoftheirrelationship,thoughit indicatesthatIsabellaleftThomasas soonas shewasfree.Betweenabout 1815and about 1826,Isabellahad fivechildren,thenamesand birthdatesofonlyfourofwhomareknown:Diana, bornc. 1815;Peter,c. 1821;Elizabeth,c. 1825; and Sophia, c. 1826. These datesare fromthe ary,Universityof Michigan,Ann Arbor).12 EdgarJ. McManus,A HistoryofNegroSlaveryin New York(Syracuse,1966), 70, 173.13 See NewYork,1993),60-66, 217-18;and CarletonMabee,"SojournerTruth,Bold Prophet:WhyDid She NeverLearnto Read,"New YorkHistory,69 (Jan. 1988),55-77. Mabee'sapproachto Truthepistemologyis verydifferentfrommine,in thathe seesliteracyas thesingleconduitto knowledge.His definitionof truthis morerigid,forhe does not discussissuesof representation.

automatic,as onsDouglass and SojournerTruthconfirm.pursuitsof FrederickslavesofDouglassand SojournerTruth,twoformerFrederickIn themid-1840s,Associationgotto knoweachotherin theNorthamptontemperament,contrastinga utopiancommunity,Massachusetts,in Northampton,ofEducationand vethethatengagedfounded 1841,had escapedfromslaveryin Marylandin 1838 and becomea protegeof Williamwasteachinghimself,in hiswords,"to speakand actlikea personLloydGarrison,of cultivationand refinement"an effortin which he succeeded veto completehis emancipationthroughtheacquisitionoffluencyto be more precise- in readingand writing.Markinghis distancefromTruth,compoundofwitand wisdom,ofwildenthusiDouglassrecalledheras a "strangecommonsense.She was a genuinespecimenof the unculturedasm and flint-likeof manners."[N]egro.She caredverylittleforeleganceof speechor refinementto acquirethepolishofa moderneducatedman,Truth,WhileDouglasswastryinghe said, "seemedto feelit herdutyto tripme up in myspeechesand to ridiculewasthemainmeansDouglassused as he soughtto establishhimself[me]."Literacyas a freeperson,but Truthappearedto disdainthe print-basedculturehe wasmastering.She did not need to read in orderto know.14Acuponherintelligence.commentedFromthe 1830suntilherdeath,observerscordingto GilbertVale,thefreethoughtjournalistwhocameto knowTruthin theher,notNaturehas furnishedshehad "a peculiarand markedcharacter.mid-1830s,witha beautiful,butwitha strongbodyand mind."He describedheras "notexactlyinor veryobservantor intelligentbad lookingbut thereis nothingprepossessingwithher,he foundher to be a womenofher looks."Afterlong conversations"shrewd,common sense,energeticmanners . [who] apparentlydespises artifice,"but he inserteda caveat:She was"notexactlywhatshe seems."She was quiet andandand had her own privateand verywise opinionsabout everythingreflectiveshe usuallykeptthoseopinionsto herself.InEverthe htruth,bewaretogame"Ifonebo-peepwants playOne warned, anyspicacity.of Sojourner,"foralthough she seems "simple and artless . her eye will see yourheartand apprehendyourmotives,almostlike God's." Anotherconcludedthathergreatpureheartwas "theshieldto guardherrareintuitions,Truth'silliteracydid d strongindividualityrateTruthfromwisdom.1514 FrederickMassachusetts.in HistoryofFlorence,Association,"Douglass,"WhatI Foundat theNorthamptoned. CharlesA. ga CompleteAccountoftheNorthamptonwife,Anna, likeTruth,did not read or write.Theirchildren,however,(Florence,1895), 131-32.Douglass'sfirsteducated,the daughterin the arts,the sons in the printingtrade.See William S. McFeely,wereall carefullyDouglass (New York,1991),92, 154, 160-61,239, 248-49, 258.FrederickSalem15 Vale,Fanaticism,pt. II, 126,pt. I, 61-63; E[lizabeth]A. Lukins,"GeorgeThompsonin Rochester,"Bugle, May 17, 1851.[Ohio] Anti-Slavery

rvationandpractice,divineinspiration,and, in a specialsenseof theword,reading.In nonewasshe unique. First,as theNew Yorkjournalistrecognizedin the 1830s,she wasa shrewdobserverofotherpeople.As a slave,a woman,a blackperson,and a household worker,Isabellalearnedto decipherotherpeople as a isabilitytodecodeotherswithoutindicatingwhatone perceivesis a sensecultivatedbythe powerlesswho seek to pieda subalternsubjectposition,and shekepthereyesopen and hermouthclosedunlessshe was in a protectedsituationor had some llssheused as a workerand a speakerthroughapprenticeas nonreadersshipandpractice,havedoneovertheages,and as readersstilldo whenfacedwithdifficultin writing,maneuversthatarehardto conveysuchas techniquesin knittingorin theuse ofa computer.As a freewomanin New YorkCity,Isabellaworkedin the householdsof the same people overmanyyears;thatrecordis testimonyt

Case of Matthias, Mr and Mrs. B. Folger, Mr Pierson, Mr Mills, Catherine, Isabella, &c. &c. A Reply to W L. Stone, with Descriptive Portraits ofAll the Parties, While at Sing-Sing andat Third Street. - Containing the Whole Truth-and Nothing But the Truth (New York, 1835), Pt. I, 3-6, 63.

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