[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 89 (Thursday, June 24, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7478-S7479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Mr. Levin, Mr. Dodd, Ms. Cantwell, 
        Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Schumer, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Santorum, Mr. 
        Lieberman, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Specter, Mr. Alexander, Ms. 
        Stabenow, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Hutchison, Ms. Mikulski, Ms. 
        Collins, Mr. Corzine, and Mr. Pryor):
  S. 2600. A bill to direct the Architect of the Capitol to enter into 
a contract to revise the statue commemorating women's suffrage located 
in the rotunda of the United States Capitol to include a likeness of 
Sojourner Truth; to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation, 
with strong bi-partisan support, calling for the women's suffrage 
statue located in the Capitol Rotunda to include a likeness of 
Sojourner Truth. As many of my colleagues know, in the majestic Capitol 
Rotunda sits a monument honoring three pioneers of the women's suffrage 
movement, which led to the women of our great nation being granted the 
right to vote in 1920.
  The monument features the busts of Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady 
Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony that were sculpted by Adelaide Johnson, 
who passed away in 1955. As the Architect of the Capitol has noted, the 
monument was presented to the Capitol as a gift from the women of the 
United States by the National Women's Party and was accepted on behalf 
of Congress by the Joint Committee on the Library on February 10, 1921. 
The unveiling ceremony was held in the Rotunda on February 15, 1921, 
the 101st anniversary of the birth of Susan B. Anthony, and was 
attended by representatives of over 70 women's organizations. The 
Committee authorized the installation of the monument in the Crypt, 
where it remained until, by act of Congress in 1996, it was relocated 
to the Capitol Rotunda in May 1997.
  In addition to the wonderful busts of Stanton, Mott, and Anthony, one 
of the interesting features of the monument is the existence of a large 
slab of stone that was never sculpted. Looking at the monument, it is 
clear that it was intended for a fourth person--another pioneer of the 
women's suffrage movement--to be sculpted. The legislation I am 
introducing today calls for Sojourner Truth to be that person.
  Born into slavery as one of the youngest of thirteen children of 
James and Elizabeth in Hurley, which is in Ulster County, New York, in 
approximately 1897, Sojourner Truth's given name was Isabella Baumfree. 
Almost all of her brothers and sisters had been sold to other slave 
owners. Some of her earliest memories were of her parents' stories of 
the cruel loss of their other children.

  Isabella was sold several times to various slave owners and suffered 
many hardships under slavery, but throughout her life she maintained a 
deep and unwavering faith that carried her through many difficult 
times.
  In 1817, the New York State Legislature passed the New York State 
Emancipation Act, which granted freedom to those enslaved who were born 
before July 4, 1799. Unfortunately, however, this law declared that 
many men, women and children could not be freed until July 4, 1827, ten 
years later. While still enslaved and at the demand of her then owner, 
John Dumont, Isabella married an older slave named Thomas, with whom 
she had at least five children--Diane, Peter, Hannah, Elizabeth, and 
Sophia.
  As the date of her release came near--July 4, 1827--she learned that 
Dumont was plotting to keep her enslaved, even after the Emancipation 
Act went into effect. For this reason, in 1826, she ran away from the 
Dumont plantation with her infant child, leaving behind her husband and 
other children.
  She took refuge with a Quaker family--the family of Isaac Van 
Wagenen--and performed domestic work for them as well as missionary 
work among the poor of New York City. While working for the Van 
Wagenen's, she discovered that a member of the Dumont family had sold 
her youngest son Peter to a plantation owner in Alabama. At the time, 
New York law prohibited the sale of slaves outside New York State and 
so the sale of Peter was illegal. Isabella sued in court and won his 
return. In doing so, she became the first black woman in the United 
States to take a white man to court and win.
  Isabella had always been very spiritual, and soon after being 
emancipated, she had a vision that affected her profoundly, leading 
her--as she later described it--to develop a ``perfect trust in God and 
prayer.'' In 1843, deciding her mission was to preach the word of God, 
Isabella changed her name to Sojourner Truth--her name for a traveling 
preacher, one who speaks the truth--and left New York. That summer she 
traveled throughout New England, calling her own prayer meetings and 
attending those of others. She preached ``God's truth and plan for 
salvation.''
  After months of travel, she arrived in Northampton, Massachusetts, 
and joined the Northampton Association for Education and Industry, 
where she met and worked with abolitionists such as William Lloyd 
Garrison, Frederick Douglas, and Olive Gilbert.
  As we know, during the 1850s, slavery became an especially heated 
issue in the United States. In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave 
Law, which allowed runaway slaves to be arrested and jailed without a 
jury trial, and in 1857, the Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott case 
that those enslaved had no rights as citizens and that the government 
could not outlaw slavery in the new territories.
  Nevertheless, these extraordinarily difficult times did not stop 
Sojourner Truth from continuing her mission. Her life story--``The 
Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave''--written with the help 
of friend Olive Gilbert, was published in 1850.
  While traveling and speaking in states across the country, Sojourner 
Truth met many women abolitionists and noticed that although women 
could be part of the leadership in the abolitionist movement, they 
could neither vote nor hold public office. It was

[[Page S7479]]

this realization that led Sojourner to become an outspoken supporter of 
women's rights.
  In 1851, she addressed the Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, 
delivering her famous speech ``Ain't I a Woman?'' The applause she 
received that day has been described as ``deafening.'' From that time 
on, she became known as a leading advocate for the rights of women. 
Indeed, she was one of the nineteenth century's most eloquent voices 
for the cause of anti-slavery and women's rights.
  By the mid-1850s, Truth had earned enough money from sales of her 
popular autobiography to buy land and a house in Battle Creek, 
Michigan. She continued her lectures, traveling to Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, 
Illinois, and Wisconsin. When the Civil War erupted in 1861, she 
visited black troops stationed near Detroit, Michigan, and offered 
encouragement. After the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, she worked 
in Washington as a counselor and educator for those who had been 
previously enslaved through the Freedman's Relief Association and the 
Freedmen's Hospital. It was during this time--in October 1864--that she 
met with President Abraham Lincoln.
  Throughout the 1870s, Sojourner Truth continued to speak on behalf of 
women and African Americans. Failing health, however, soon forced 
Sojourner to return to her Battle Creek, Michigan home, where she died 
on November 26, 1883.
  This brief recounting of Sojourner Truth's life story only begins to 
speak of her faith, courage, intelligence, and steadfastness in the 
face of extraordinary circumstances and volatile times in our Nation's 
history. Though she could neither read nor write, her eloquence 
commanded the attention of thousands of Americans, both black and 
white. It therefore comes as no surprise to learn that among her many 
friends, admirers and staunch supporters were Frederick Douglass, Amy 
Post, Olive Gilbert, Parker Pillsbury, Mrs. Francis Gage, Weldell 
Phillips, Willilam Lloyd Garrison, Laura Haviland, Lucretia Mott, and 
Susan B. Anthony.
  The legislation I am introducing today pays tribute to Sojourner 
Truth by including her in the portrait monument with three of her 
fellow leading suffragettes. That is why this legislation has the 
strong bi-partisan support of so many of my colleagues and of many 
organizations, including the National Council of Women's Organizations.
  I also want to take a moment to say a special thanks of appreciation 
to Dr. C. Delores Tucker, Chair of the National Congress of Black 
Women, who is the champion of this legislation and for all African 
American women, children and families today. I know that with her 
continued, unwavering support, this legislation will be enacted. I ask 
all of my colleagues to support it. Thank you.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2600

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) Sojourner Truth was a towering figure among the 
     founders of the movement for women's suffrage in the United 
     States, and any monument that accurately represents this 
     important development in our Nation's history should include 
     her.
       (2) The statue known as the Portrait Monument, originally 
     presented to Congress in 1920 in honor of the passage of the 
     Nineteenth Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote and 
     presently exhibited in the rotunda of the Capitol, portrays 
     several early suffragists who were Sojourner Truth's 
     contemporaries, but not Sojourner Truth herself, the only 
     African American among the group.

     SEC. 2. REVISION OF WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE STATUE.

       Not later than the final day on which the One Hundred Ninth 
     Congress is in session, the Architect of the Capitol shall 
     enter into a contract to revise the statue commemorating 
     women's suffrage located in the rotunda of the United States 
     Capitol (commonly known as the ``Portrait Monument'') to 
     include a likeness of Sojourner Truth.

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to co-sponsor 
legislation to add the likeness of Sojourner Truth to the statue 
commemorating women's suffrage located in the rotunda of the United 
States Capitol.
  Sojourner Truth (1797?-1883) was the self-given name of a woman born 
into slavery. The year of her birth is uncertain, and is usually taken 
to be 1797. Originally Isabella Van Wagener, she escaped to Canada in 
1827.
  After New York State had abolished slavery in 1829, she returned and 
worked as a domestic servant for over a decade, and joined Elijah 
Pierson in evangelical preaching on street-corners. Later in life she 
became a noted speaker for both the Abolitionist movement and the 
women's rights movement. Perhaps one of her most famous speeches was 
Ain't I A Woman, a short but pointed commentary delivered in 1851 at 
the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio.
  During the American Civil War, she organized collection of supplies 
for the Union. In 1850, she worked with Olive Gilbert to produce a 
biography, the Narrative of Sojourner Truth.
  This was a truly amazing woman who endeavored in her time to change 
the American experience both for her fellow freed slaves as well as 
women of all races. A courageous woman, Truth not only spoke out 
against the racial oppression that she had endured throughout her 
childhood but acted on her beliefs, inspiring men and women of all 
races with her personal strength, wisdom, and social activism.
  Through her courage and perseverance, Sojourner Truth, her 
contemporaries, and future visionaries have led our nation and the 
world toward greater freedom and democracy for all. Three of these 
women--Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony--are 
already portrayed by the Portrait Monument, which was presented to 
Congress in 1920 in honor of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment 
guaranteeing women the right to vote. Her recognition, as an African-
American would be an appropriate, noteworthy addition to the statue.
  I am pleased to offer this legislation to finally honor Sojourner 
Truth in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and encourage the retelling of 
her inspirational story to the American people. This is a long overdue 
effort and I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation.
                                 ______