Today, we know from first-hand accounts that Sojourner Truth gave a speech in 1861 at the women's rights convention in Akron, Ohio. Yet we still do not know exactly what that speech said. Truth's voice itself is the subject of much debate: after all there are no audio recordings of her voice. In addition, Truth herself was illiterate, which means that every document we have today that reproduces Truth's words is authored by a third party. Scholars, therefore, are left to debate the likelihood of accuracy of any given text.
In this context, then, more complex issues of voice, authenticity, and representation surface beyond any discussion of simple historical accuracy. For example, the most commonly reproduced version of Truth's 1851 speech is the version known as "Ain't I a Woman," authored by Frances Dana Gage and published in 1863. This version is widely available and most commonly taught in schools. Today, a consensus holds that this version reproduces a southern slave dialect that is historically inaccurate. Sojourner Truth was born in Dutch-speaking New York and only learned English several years into her life. In addition, an 1879 newspaper article in the Kalamazoo Daily Telegraph notes that Truth prides herself on "a fairly correct English." Thus when we read "Ain't I a Woman?" we can safely assume that the particular inflections, intonations, and pronunciations are not authentically Truth's, but rather Gage's imagining of Truth.
Yet even having reached the conclusion that the dialect reproduced by Gage is false does not resolve the question of authenticity. Indeed, such a simple historical conclusion belies several more complex questions. For example, what investment did Gage have in the reproduction of a southern slave dialect? Why might she choose to cast Truth's words with such a dialect, and change the words so much in the process? And regardless of the answers to these questions, we must also interrogate the consequences. What effect do her contested words have on Sojourner Truth's legacy? And how is the way we remember, celebrate, and honor her today shaped by the intermediary interpretations of other writers?
