Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth was born a slave named Isabella about 1797
in Ulster County, New York. Before the age of thirty, she had served three masters,
married, and had five children. After obtaining her freedom in 1827, she did not want to
carry anything from her life of slavery into her life as a free woman, and so she changed
her name from Isabella to Sojourner Truth--Sojourner because she was going to travel the
country and Truth because she was going to carry truth to the people.
And carry it she did! Working in the abolitionist movement,
her stature, personality, and manner of speech captivated audiences and silenced her
opposers. Her famous quote, "Frederick, is God dead?" was a question put to
Frederick Douglass after a pessimistic pre-Civil War speech. She also worked for women 's
rights. At the Womans Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, in 1851, she stopped opposition
with her speech, "Aint I a Woman?"
After the Civil War, she worked in Washington, D.C., trying
to help the many former slaves who migrated to the city seeking new lives. Forced finally
from her active life by age and health, she settled in Battle Creek, Michigan, where she
died in 1883. Her monument is inscribed, "Is God Dead?" |
Sojourner Truth Room
The Oxon Hill Branch Library was built in 1966-67 on the
site of the Sojourner Truth Elementary School. This period of time was the height of the
civil rights movement. One result of the movement was the realization that too little
research had been done in the field of African American studies and that too little
collecting of available materials had been undertaken. To meet this general need and the
specific needs of the community, it was decided that the Oxon Hill Branch Librarys special
collection would be concerned with African American history and culture. Named for
Sojourner Truth, the collection continues to honor one of this countrys truly remarkable
women.
The collection consists of over 7,000 cataloged items, many
of which are rare or out-of-print; periodicals; some sheet music; pictures; posters; and
vertical files which contain pamphlets, clippings, and bibliographies. The Oxon Hill
Branchs circulating collection contains duplicates of many of the books in the Sojourner
Truth Room. The branch also receives current periodicals in major areas of interest to
African American studies.
The slave narrative is one of several subjects emphasized
in the collection. Some original editions are owned, as well as many reprint editions and
the 31-volume Writers Project series. Other subjects include slavery/anti-slavery;
literary criticism, and African Americans in Maryland and Prince Georges County.
The books in the Sojourner Truth Room appear in the library
system's catalog. A separate index of biographies, short stories, plays and literary
criticism which are included in collections is in the Sojourner Truth Room. |
