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Primary sourcePhotograph1864

Sojourner Truth 'Sell the Shadow' Postcard

Sojourner Truth · 1864

A photographic postcard of Sojourner Truth bearing her slogan 'Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance,' sold to fund her travels.

Truth sold these postcards of herself to fund her travels, showing her as an active, self-supporting public figure.

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Sepia carte de visite photograph of an elderly Black woman standing with a walking cane, wearing a white head covering, round spectacles, a white shawl, a plaid vest and a long skirt, with a plaid bag at her side. Printed caption reads 'Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance' and 'Sojourner Truth'.
Sojourner Truth postcard, 1864. Library of Congress.

About this source

What it is

This is a photographic carte de visite of Sojourner Truth from 1864, held by the Library of Congress. It shows her standing with a cane, spectacles, and a shawl, with the printed caption 'Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance' and her name.

Why it matters

Truth sold photographs like this one herself to earn money to support her travels as a speaker. The slogan on the card was her own way of describing the sale: the photograph (the 'shadow') funded her real work and life (the 'substance'). This object shows her as a savvy, self-supporting public figure, not just a subject of other people's writing.

Look closer

  • What do Truth's clothing, cane, and bag suggest about how she presented herself to the public?
  • Why might the slogan 'Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance' have been printed directly on the card?
  • What does it tell us that Truth controlled and profited from her own image?

This photograph 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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Sepia carte de visite photograph of an older Black woman seated at a table, wearing a white bonnet, dark dress, and white fringed shawl, with a flower vase at right. Printed caption below reads 'I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance' and 'SOJOURNER TRUTH'.Photograph

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I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance

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Sepia carte de visite photograph of an older Black woman seated beside a table with a flower vase, wearing a white bonnet, glasses, a white shawl, and a dark dress, holding knitting or sewing. Printed caption below reads: I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance. SOJOURNER TRUTH.Photograph

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