The grand-daughter of Africans who had survived the Middle Passage, Isabella Bomefree, who would later become Sojourner Truth, was born into slavery in a Dutch-speaking community in Ulster County, New York State, around 1797. She spent the first three decades of her life in slavery; like many (though by no means all) slaves of her generation, she never learned to read or write. Her experiences during bondage, which included brutal beatings (her back forever carried the scars), separation from her parents and siblings (her aged father, alone and no longer able to take care of himself, froze to death), and (probable) sexual abuse, informed her subsequent denunciations of slavery, and struggles for women’s rights.
She spent the first three decades of her life in slavery; like many (though by no means all) slaves of her generation, she never learned to read or write. Her experiences during bondage, which included brutal beatings (her back forever carried the scars), separation from her parents and siblings (her aged father, alone and no longer able to take care of himself, froze to death), and (probable) sexual abuse, informed her subsequent denunciations of slavery, and struggles for women’s rights.
House of Johannes Hardenburgh, first owner of Isabella Bomefree. Unknown photographer, published in 1909.