Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-343) and index.

Isabella, Sojourner Truth, and American slavery -- Isabella, a slave -- Journey toward freedom -- Sanctification -- Plaintiff and witch -- New York perfectionism -- In the kingdom of Matthias -- Isabella's New York City -- Among the Millerites -- Northampton -- Douglass, Ruggles, and family -- The Narrative of Sojourner Truth -- Networks of antislavery feminism -- Akron, 1851 -- Vengeance and womanhood -- Spiritualism -- The "Lybian Sibyl" -- "Ar'n't I a woman?" -- Partisan and aristocrat -- Truth in photographs -- Presidents -- Washington's freedpeople -- Woman suffrage -- Kansas -- The end of a life -- The life of a symbol -- Coda: The triumph of a symbol.

Sojourner Truth: ex-slave and fiery abolitionist, figure of imposing physique, riveting preacher and spellbinding singer who dazzled listeners with her wit and originality. Straight talking and unsentimental, Truth became a national symbol for strong black women - indeed, for all strong women. Like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, she is regarded as a radical of immense and enduring influence; yet unlike them, what is remembered of her consists more of myth than of historical fact. Now, in a masterful blend of scholarship and sympathetic understanding, eminent historian Nell Irvin Painter goes beyond the myths, words, and photographs to uncover the life of a complex woman who was born into slavery and died a legend. Inspired by religion, Truth transformed herself from a domestic servant named Isabella into an itinerant Pentecostal preacher; her words of empowerment have inspired black women and poor people the world over to this day. As an abolitionist and a feminist, Truth defied the stereotype of "the slave" as male and "the woman" as white - expounding a fact that still bears repeating: among blacks there are women; among women, there are blacks.

Black Caucus of the American Library Association Literary Award, 1997.