Sojourner Truth Monument in Battle Creek

Photo credit - Battle Creek CVB

On September 25th, 1999, the Battle Creek community dedicated a statue to celebrate and commemorate the legacy of the national heroine, Sojourner Truth, who chose Battle Creek as her home in the last 26 years of her life. The statue, alongside educational programs, is one of the many actions the community has taken to commemorate Truth’s legacy and continue her work promoting equality.

The renowned California artist, Tina Allen, designed a 12-foot-tall sculpture of Truth, the world’s largest statue of Truth.

Sojourner Truth is depicted during a public speech, standing on a podium, facing a seating area, next to a lectern that holds a bronze plaque with information about the monument and her story. The last sentence inspires the visitors to follow her legacy “…It is for each of us who stand here to carry on the work of truth.”

On the stonewall behind the statue is a plaque with her signature, which she wrote in an autograph book owned by a local high school student on April 23rd, 1880.
Two other bronze plaque presents her quotes –
“…and Truth shall be my abiding name.”
“Lord, I have done my duty and I have told the truth and kept nothing back.”

Facing the statue is a bronze plaque with her short biography:
“Sojourner Truth was born as the slave Isabella in New York State about 1797. As a child she spoke only low Dutch and, like most slaves, she never learned to read or write. While she was in bondage, she married Thomas, a fellow slave, and had five children. She was sold to four new owners before walking away to freedom in 1826. Isabella then settled in New York City until 1843, when she changed her name to Sojourner Truth. Relying on her deep religious faith, she was determined to travel the land as an itinerant preacher, speaking the truth and fighting against injustice. She became a prominent figure in several national social reform movements, working for the abolition of slavery, women’s rights, temperance, prison reform, and the rights of former slaves. Sojourner first came to Battle Creek in 1856 to speak to the Quaker Friends of Human Progress. She moved to the area a year later and lived here for the last twenty-six years of her life. She died on November 26, 1883, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Sojourner Truth was perhaps the most famous African American woman in 19th century America. For over forty years she was a passionate advocate for the dispossessed, using her quick wit and fearless tongue to fight for human rights. May her legacy live on.”

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Memorial & Statue

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