Sojourner Truth did not say “Ain’t I a Woman?” in famous speech

Sojourner Truth, a 19th-century abolitionist and women’s rights activist, did not use the phrase “Ain’t I a Woman?” in her famous 1851 speech, contrary to popular belief. The phrase and the portrayal of Truth speaking in a Southern slave dialect were inaccuracies introduced in a transcript of the speech published by white abolitionist Frances Gage in 1863. Truth, born into slavery in New York and first speaking Dutch, did not have a southern vernacular. Her speech was originally transcribed by Reverend Marius Robinson, a friend of Truth’s, and does not include the phrase “Ain’t I a Woman?”.

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