Abraham Lincoln maintained an open-door policy throughout his presidency, inviting visitors from all walks of life to meet with him at the White House. (1/5)
Image Credit: Library of Congress
Image Credit: Library of Congress
In 1864, Sojourner Truth—a former slave, renowned abolitionist, and women’s rights activist—decided to make the long journey from Battle Creek, Michigan, to the nation’s capital to speak to the president. (2/5)
Image Credit: Library of Congress
Image Credit: Library of Congress
According to a later account of the meeting attributed to Truth, she praised Lincoln’s time in office, especially the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation, but admitted that she had not heard of him before he ran for president. (3/5)
According to Truth’s account, Lincoln then “smilingly replied, ‘I had heard of you many times before that,’” rightfully acknowledging the important role she played as an activist on the national stage long before the Civil War. (4/5)
At the end of their time together, so the story went, the President showed Truth a Bible he received from a group of African Americans from Baltimore, Maryland. An artist imagined this moment thirty years later, as seen in this drawing. (5/5)
Image Credit: Library of Congress
Image Credit: Library of Congress
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