When the Downtown Angola Coalition received the Preserving Women’s Legacy Grant to celebrate Indiana women’s suffrage centennial, they chose to dedicate a statue to Sojourner Truth, who had visited Angola in 1861 and delivered a speech on the stairs of the Steuben County Courthouse on June 2nd, 1861.
The Colorado artist (originally from Indiana) Jim Haire created the life-size bronze statue, depicting her as she was when she came to Angola to speak in 1861, wearing traditional Quaker clothes, holding her cane on the right and a paper with an invitation to her free lecture in her left.
A nearby bronze plaque describes Truth’s connection to Angola and the story behind the statue and its dedication.
The statue was dedicated in a special ceremony on June 6th, 2021, attended by hundreds of people, including Truth’s descendants, local and state officials, and Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch. It is a historical landmark and serves as a memory of Steuben County’s role in the abolitionist movement.
Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) lived for almost 30 years as an enslaved woman by Isabella Baumfree in New York. She had several owners, got married, and had five children. In 1826, she escaped with her infant daughter and got help to buy her freedom. She settled in New York City and worked as a domestic. In her forties, she answered the Spirit of God’s call to spread the truth. She changed her name to Sojourner Truth and became a preacher and public speaker, dedicating her life to promoting equal society for African-American women. She traveled the country and lectured about abolitionism and women’s rights in hundreds of communities. In 1861 Truth arrived to speak in Angola, Indiana, and stayed there for a few weeks. On the stairs of the Steuben County courthouse, wearing a red, white, and blue dress, she spoke about the abolition of slavery and women’s rights.
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