Sojourner Truth, Photography, and the Fight Against Slavery

Runaway slave Sojourner Truth gained fame in the nineteenth century as an abolitionist, feminist, and orator and earned a living partly by selling photographic carte de visite portraits of herself.

Cartes de visite, similar in format to calling cards, were relatively inexpensive collectibles that quickly became a new mode of mass communication. The images became not only a way for Truth to earn money, but also a shrewd and powerfully effective way to fight slavery and support the Union cause. Sojourner Truth, Photography, and the Fight Against Slavery features a large selection of Truth’s photographs, as well as other Civil War cartes and Federal currency, none of which have been exhibited before.

Exhibition overview from the Museum website