Voices of Democracy 7 (2012): 21‐ 46 Phillips‐Anderson 21 Michael Phillips‐Anderson: mphillip@monmouth.edu Last Updated: August 2013 Copyright © 2013 (Michael Phillips‐Anderson). Voices of Democracy, ISSN #1932‐9539. Available at http://www.voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/. SOJOURNER TRUTH, "ADDRESS AT THE WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION IN AKRON, OHIO," (29 MAY 1851) Michael Phillips‐Anderson Monmouth University Abstract: Sojourner Truth's 1851 speech in Akron, commonly titled "Ain't I a Woman," stands as a landmark in the fight for racial and woman's equality. Truth spoke before a woman's rights convention, making arguments about women's physical and intellectual capacities, as well as religious arguments in support of equal rights. While it is clear that she asserted her identity as a woman and a citizen in this speech, our understanding of her words is complicated by the lack of an authentic text of her remarks. This essay explores the challenges in recovering Truth's rhetoric and offers an analysis of her arguments for equal rights. Keywords: Sojourner Truth, Identity, Textual Authenticity, Civil Rights, Feminism The Declaration of Sentiments adopted at the 1848 Woman's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York called for "a series of Conventions" that would continue the reform efforts across "every part of the country." 1 In response to that call, a Woman's Rights Convention met in Akron, Ohio on May 28 and 29, 1851. The convention featured a number of women speaking in defense of their rights and calling for moral change and legal reform. Sojourner Truth participated in the convention and spoke on the second day. 2 She was the only woman speaking at the convention who had been held in slavery. In her speech, Truth argued forcefully for the rights of women, drawing particular attention to the position of women of color in the social and legal hierarchy of her time. What Truth said that day is the subject of much debate. 3 The speech Truth delivered at the Akron convention is today commonly titled "Ain't I a woman?" However, the contraction appears in different versions of the speech as: "Ar'n't ," "A'n't," and "Ain't." 4 Marius Robinson published a version of the speech in the Salem, Ohio Anti‐Slavery Bugle in 1851. 5 This version was written in standard English and represents the first supposedly complete text of the speech. In 1863, Frances Dana Gage produced the most widely known version of the speech in a southern black dialect, 6 and others, including rhetorical critic Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, have edited Gage's text into standard English. 7 In 1850, Truth published an account of her life, the Narrative of Sojourner Truth, and a later edition of that memoir included a copy of the Gage version of the Akron speech. 8 There are several questions to consider in determining the most authentic version of the speech. How do the words ascribed to Truth vary among the versions? What are the differences in the accounts of the context of the Akron convention? What written version best captures the quality of Truth's delivery, particularly the accuracy of what scholars call "eye dialectal" indicators? 9 What were each writer's motivations in constructing the different versions of the speech, and how are those differing motivations reflected in the texts?