Inside Sojourner Truth's Complicated Relationship With Frederick Douglass

May 2024 ยท 1 minute read

Sojourner Truth moved to Florence, Massachusetts, in 1843, where she lived at the Northampton Association of Education and Industry. Historic Northampton describes it as a "utopian community organized around a communally owned and operated silk mill." Members sought to change attitudes by establishing a society in which all were equal regardless of their race, sex, color, or religion. And they were unified around bringing slavery to an end. 

While living there, Truth met several fellow abolitionists, and one of them happened to be Frederick Douglass, who gave several speeches there. Through the relationships she established at Northampton Association, she became more aware of matters worthy of reform, including women's rights and temperance. As a result of her time at the Northampton Association, she became well-known as a civil rights activist. The community came to an end in 1846, but its legacy lived on, per Historic Northampton.

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