Sojourner Truth was born enslaved in upstate New York as Isabella in 1797. She lived under five masters while raising five children, and after slavery ended in New York State in 1827 she settled in New York City. Deeply religious, she took the name Sojourner Truth after God spoke to her. At 46, she set out walking and preaching through Long Island and Connecticut, eventually reaching Massachusetts and joining the Northampton Association of Education and Industry. From her home in what is now Florence, she spread her mission and began speaking out for the abolition of slavery and for women's rights.

Photo: Marc Posner