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Hope is the expectation of a fulfilled promise about a future that is better than the present.

Hope is faith disposed towards the future. It is holding on and holding out for the promise of better world, of God being existent, true, good, and beautiful, and especially when life’s trying difficulties and tragic circumstances obscure conviction with seeds of doubt. Hope is the anchor hold on one’s faith amid life’s inevitable storms.

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A Vision of Hope

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National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

SOJOURNER TRUTH

19th c. abolitionist, speaker, and human rights activist Sojourner Truth's vision of hope led her to fight steadfastly for the causes of freedom and equality.

Born into slavery around 1797, Sojourner Truth—known then as simply "Isabella"—led an early life filled with hardships. Isabella was second youngest child of James and Betsey Baumfree. Other siblings had been sold to other masters before she was old enough to remember them. Her mother introduced her to faith early in life, telling her and her brother that, "there is a God, who hears and sees you ... and when you are beaten, or cruelly treated, or fall into any trouble, you must ask help of him, and he will always hear and help you." Unable to read, write, or speak English, Isabella and her brother learned to recite the Lord's Prayer and passages from the Bible through memorization, in the Low Dutch language of the household.

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We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:8–9 KJV
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Isabella, along with her youngest brother Peter, remained with their parents as the property of Charles Hardenburgh in Ulster, New York. The Hardenburghs were a prominent Dutch family with distinguished service in the American Revolution. Charles’s uncle, the Rev. Jacob Hardenburgh, was the founding president of Queen’s College (now Rutgers University). Upon Charles Hardenburgh's death, Isabella, then nine years old, was sold at auction to a slaver, going for the price of $100 and a herd of sheep. This auction signaled the start of a particularly dark time in Isabella's life. Sold to an English-speaking family, Isabella could not understand her instructions. The frequent miscommunications between Isabella and her new mistress led to repeated, savage whippings.

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Hardenburgh family home
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The Hardenburgh family home where Isabella Baumfree was raised as a child, c. 1909.

Home of Col. Johannes Hardenburgh, 1909, History of New Paltz New York and Its Old Families by Ralph LeFevre, State University of New York at New Paltz Sojourner Truth Library. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org

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Slave Auction
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Slave Auction, 1815.

From the Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, Written by Himself, 1849. Retrieved from http://docsouth.unc.edu/

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In these brutal moments, Isabella called on God for guidance and protection, "telling him all—and asking Him if He thought it was right." Reflecting on these prayerful moments in later life, she said, "though it seems curious, I do not remember ever asking for any thing but what I got it. And I always received it as an answer to my prayers." One time, she prayed for her father to come visit her and help her find a new master and, James Baumfree actually came to see her. Soon after, Isabella was sold to a new owner.

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We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.

ROMANS 8:28 GNT
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Isabella was sold for $105. After a year and a half with her new owner, the 13-year-old was sold again—this time to the man who would be her final master, John Dumont. During her toil on the Dumont family farm, Isabella was given as a wife to Thomas, a fellow slave whos

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An illustration depicting the wedding tradition of "Jumping the Broom."
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An illustration depicting the wedding tradition of "Jumping the Broom." Many weddings between slaves in the Antebellum South concluded with this tradition, as marriages between slaves were not considered legal.

Emily Clemens Pearson, Cousin Francks Household, or, Scenes in the Old Dominion, 1853, compiled by Jerome Handler and Michael Tuite and sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Retrieved from http://www.slaveryimages.org/

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In 1817, the State of New York passed a law granting freedom to slaves born before July 4, 1799. The law was set to take effect on July 4, 1827, but for her hard work and dedication, Dumont promised to grant Isabella her "free papers" a year before she was legally emancipated. When he failed to keep his promise, Isabella asked God to guide her to safety. 

 

The next day she packed up her infant daughter, Sophia, and walked to the home of a friend, who directed her to the Van Wagenen family. Upon hearing her story, Isaac and Maria Van Wagenen took Isabella in and gave her a paying job in their household. When Dumont finally tracked down Isabella, the Van Wagenens paid him $25 to secure Isabella and Sophia's freedom. In 1826, at the age of 28, Isabella was finally free.

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"An address, delivered on the celebration of the abolition of slavery"
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"An address, delivered on the celebration of the abolition of slavery," by Nathaniel Paul, July 5, 1827.

Nathaniel Paul, "An Address Delivered on the Celebration of the Abolition of Slavery," 1827, Albany, Printed by J. B. Van Steenbergh. Retrieved from https://catalog.hathitrust.org

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Freedom is what we have — Christ has set us free! Stand, then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again.

GALATIANS 5:1 GNT
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Certificate from the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands
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Certificate from the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, uniting in marriage a couple that had been common-law husband and wife since 1843.

S. B. F. C. Barr, Superintendent, Wilson County, Tennessee, Certificate from the Bureau of Refugees, Freedman and Abandoned Lands, April 9, 1866, Learn NC. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org

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The year of her emancipation began with heartbreak, with Isabella learning of the illegal and fraudulent interstate sale of her five-year-old son, Peter, by slave trader Solomon Gedney. Gedney’s brother had purchased the child from the Dumonts and placed him in Solomon’s charge. When Isabella complained to her mistress, Sally Dumont, she heard her through, and then replied — “Ugh! a fine fuss to make about a little nigger! Why, haven't you as many of 'em left as you can see to and take care of? A pity 'tis, the niggers are not all in Guinea!! Making such a halloo‑balloo about the neighborhood; and all for a paltry nigger!!!” The Dumont family showed no sign of contrition for the act, and Isabella turned to her faith once again for guidance. "I have no money," she told Mrs. Dumont, "but God has enough, or what's better! And I'll have my child again." Through the support of the Van Wagenen family, Isabella acquired the necessary funds for legal fees, and filed a complaint with the Ulster County grand jury. She won the case, and Peter returned to her in 1828. This victory marked the beginning of Isabella's faith-inspired activism.

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Legal recognizance document concerning slave trader Solomon Gidney
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This legal recognizance document concerns slave trader Solomon Gidney, who was alleged to have illegally and fraudulently sold Isabella Baumfree's son Peter into interstate slavery. This document financially commits Gidney to appear before the Court and may be associated with her legal victory.

Recognizance for Solomon Gedney, 1828, Ulster County Clerk of Courts. Retrieved from http://ulstercountyny.gov/

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I was sure God would help me ... I felt so tall within—I felt as if the power of a nation was with me!

SOJOURNER TRUTH, NARRATIVE OF SOJOURNER TRUTH, 1850
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Isabella moved with her children to New York City in 1828, where she began practicing speaking in public, and discovered that people responded well to her. Her years in New York formed her ministry skills as she became involved in several Christian and moral causes through the influence and connections of her wealthy Methodist employers, Mr. and Mrs. James Latourette. While living in New York, she associated with an Adventist sect called the Kingdom of Matthias. Eventually disillusioned by its leadership, Isabella retreated from public involvement, but later had a profound spiritual experience. On June 1, 1843, the day of Pentecost, Isabella records hearing the call of God, who urged her to leave New York and to journey East to Long Island and preach the Gospel. After this experience she gave herself a new name, Sojourner Truth. Not only did the name signify her rebirth as an itinerant or sojourner to proclaim the truth, it marked the start of a new pilgrimage  "to embrace Jesus, and refrain from sin."

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Sojourner Truth lecture poster
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Sojourner Truth lecture poster.

Sojourner Truth lecture poster, Berenice Bryant Lowe Papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan

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I went to the Lord and asked Him to give me a new name. And the Lord gave me Sojourner, because I was to travel up and down the land, showing the people their sins, and being a sign unto them.

SOJOURNER TRUTH, NARRATIVE OF SOJOURNER TRUTH, 1850
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And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

ACTS 22:16 KJV
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Traveling through Long Island, Connecticut, and western Massachusetts, Truth survived on odd jobs and the kindness of strangers while she made her way as a wandering preacher. She arrived in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1843, intending to stay for only two weeks. Instead, she settled there for 13 years, joining the Northampton Association for Education and Industry, a cooperative community. Through her work with the Association, Truth came in contact with some of the nation's most important antislavery leaders of the time, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and Elisha Hammond. She also rose to greater prominence as a social reformer, active in the causes of abolition, racial equality and women’s rights.

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Truth's home in Massachusetts
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Sojourner Truth's home in Florence, Massachusetts.

Courtesy of Historic Northampton

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