Quotation by Sojourner Truth

More Quotes From

Additional Sources

as quoted in Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings by Miriam Schnier (1972)as quoted in History of Woman Suffrage by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1882)as quoted in History of Woman Suffrage by Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and herself (1882)as quoted in The Narrative of Sojourner Truth by Frances W. Titus (1875)as quoted in The Narrative of Sojourner Truth by Frances W. Titus (added 1883; book originally copyrighted in 1875)

Related Subjects

taxes (2) politics (2) social/political activism (2) female supremacy (1) women's rights (1) slavery (1) values of women (1) labor movement (1) pride (1) utopias (1)

I must sojourn once to the ballot-box before I die. I hear the ballot-box is a beautiful glass globe, so you can see all the votes as they go in. Now, the first time I vote I'll see if the woman's vote looks any different from the rest—if it makes any stir or commotion. If it don't inside, it need not outside.

Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth (c. 1797–1883), African American suffragist and abolitionist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, appendix—ch. 19, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1882).

The former slave, itinerant preacher, and beloved activist in the woman suffrage movement said this during an 1867 visit with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her family. This is from a letter that Stanton wrote to the World, which, she said, "seemed to please Sojourner more than any other journal." Truth was illiterate but enjoyed having newspapers read aloud to her. Her name was an assumed one, which she took after experiencing a vision. She would not live to fulfill her ambition to vote; women were granted suffrage nationwide only in 1920, thirty-seven years after Truth died.

Cite this source Embed this quotation

Surprise me with a

The Columbia World of Quotations © 1996, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by written agreement, the following are prohibited: copying substantial portions or the entirety of the work in machine readable form, making multiple printouts thereof, and other uses of the work inconsistent with U.S. and applicable foreign copyright and related laws.

Partners:Word Bloglines Citysearch The Daily Beast Ask Answers Ask Kids Life123 Reference Sendori