DEDICATION OF THE SOJOURNER TRUTH ULSTER LANDING COUNTY PARK

Saugerties, NY, May 21, 2009

(click on image for slideshow)

Esopus Councilperson Deborah Silvestro delivering a historical perspective of Sojourner Truth, with Ulster County Executive Michael Hines & Rev. Modele Clarke looking on.

"Sojourner Truth was born into a world where nothing was expected of her but hard work

And her last master said that she could do the work of 2 slaves

She was not expected to have any special gifts or talents

And yet she became a respected speaker, a reformer, an advocate for the people

She didn’t own anything, not even her own last name

And so one day she was the one who decided what she would be called

They could own her body…but they could not own her mind.

Around 1797, along the Swartekill in Rifton, Isabella was born. She was listed in the inventory of property of a Dutch farmer and slave owner, she was sold on the auction block, she was sold two more times, once to a tavern owner in Port Ewen, and finally, to a farmer in West Park.

Her life was just like that of other slaves in Ulster County…so what was so different about her…why do we remember her name…

A promise was made to Isabella. She was going to be given her freedom a year earlier than other slaves under the laws of New York. Her master, John Dumont, said it was because she was his best worker and had earned it. But, when he broke his promise, Isabella decided that she would have her freedom. Something had changed.

She had withstood beatings…because, in her mind, maybe she deserved them

She had withstood slavery….because that was the law of the land

She did not stand for a broken promise…because that was wrong

And like a key opening a box…something in her mind told her what was the right thing to do…and she found the strength to carry out her plan, to get up early in the morning, to take her infant and a few belongings, and put one foot in front of the other as step by step she walked to her freedom….because that was the right thing to do.

In the same way, a year later, she pleaded with the Grand Jury in Kingston for the return of her son Peter, who had been illegally taken out of New York State. The law was the law…it didn’t matter if you were a rich white man, or a poor black woman. “I will have my son back” she said…because that was the right thing to do. And she succeeded, something no black woman had ever done before.

Sojourner Truth lived her life by what she believed was the right thing to do, and she spoke out for change in order to make better lives for women, the enslaved, and the poor. She used her mind and she was never afraid...not at meetings where she was ridiculed and even threatened, but she would use humor or stories or songs that she wrote to calm people, and bring them over to her side.

Sojourner Truth never learned how to read or write, but she always full of knowledge. She would have newspapers, letters, and the Bible read to her…but she preferred to have children do this. If she said “read that again”, the child would read it again, and again, until Sojourner was satisfied. But an adult…they would think that she just didn’t understand and would try to explain things to her. She understood perfectly, she just wanted to remember it exactly. She was using what she had…her mind.

Isabella left Ulster County and became Sojourner Truth. Her reputation for the work she did fighting against slavery, arguing for equality and for women’s right to vote, happened in places far from here. But, wherever she went, she carried in her the place she came from, the experiences she had, and the people she knew when she was Isabella.

A few weeks ago, I was privileged to attend another ceremony honoring Sojourner Truth in Washington DC, a city that she knew very well…a city where she tried to desegregate the horse drawn streetcars, and where she worked to relieve the misery of former slaves living in squalid camps. The most moving part of the event was when the descendents of Sojourner Truth were asked to stand. Here was the living connection to this remarkable woman.

But we, too, have a connection to her, and if we use our minds, we can imagine her walking these roads and looking out at this same river, for Sojourner Truth was born in the Town of Esopus in the County of Ulster in the State of New York.

This wonderful park will not be the only place to bear her name, there are many, and another is planned for Port Ewen. This park will help us keep that connection with Sojourner Truth. We must never forget the past, but like Truth, we should have the faith to imagine a better world, and not to be afraid to find it.

This is truly a special day. And when you see her name at the entrance to this park, may you think of a woman who stood apart, who stood tall, and stood for what was right."

Deborah Silvestro, May 21st, 2009