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Secondary sourcePainting1897

Sojourner Truth Engraving from Wood's Book

Unknown · 1897

A black-and-white engraving of an elderly Sojourner Truth, published decades after her death in a 1897 book of Black biography.

This later engraving portrays Truth with dignity, showing how her image was preserved in print after her death.

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Black and white engraving of an older Black woman wearing a light head covering or bonnet and a light shawl over a dark dress, facing forward with a slight closed-mouth expression against a shaded background.
Engraving of Sojourner Truth, from Norman B. Wood, The White Side of a Black Subject, 1897.

About this source

What it is

This engraving shows Sojourner Truth as an older woman wearing a light head covering and shawl over a dark dress. It was published in Norman B. Wood's 1897 book The White Side of a Black Subject, made by an unknown artist.

Why it matters

The engraving appeared in a book collecting biographies of Black Americans, created more than a decade after Truth's death. It shows how she was remembered and portrayed in print for readers who had never seen her in person, shaping her public image for later generations.

Look closer

  • What impression does this engraving give of Truth's character and dignity?
  • Why might the artist's identity be unknown, and what does that tell us about how images were made and shared at the time?
  • How might an engraving made from memory or another image differ from a photograph taken during Truth's lifetime?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Sojourner Truth on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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