Sojourner Truth: Reframing an American IconMaster ClassIn-Person
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2025
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m
Our partner, MacDowell, is hosting this event.
Sojourner Truth’s reputation has evolved in the last generation, from a barely known Black American into an important historical figure. However, she is often summed up in a phrase: “ain’t I a woman?”—a phrase she did not utter, a phrase that makes her into a Southerner and ignores most of her fascinating life. Sojourner Truth was a New Yorker, and in this master class, Nell Painter will help us see Sojourner Truth anew as an intriguingly accomplished person.
BLACK HISTORY, U.S. HISTORY, WOMEN'S STUDIES
Nell Painter
Nell Irvin Painter lives three lives: as the Edwards Professor of American History Emerita at Princeton University, and author of The History of White People and Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol; as a writer of creative nonfiction, including Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over; and as a visual artist, holder of an MFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design with work in several public collections. The New York Times, Boston Globe, and Kirkus Reviews all named her 2024 essay collection, I Just Keep Talking, one of the best nonfiction books of the year. She is currently completing a new biographical study, Sojourner Truth Was a New Yorker, and She Didn’t Say That.