Truth Be Told

AN ORIGINAL PLAY BY AMY DUNLAP Based on the life of Sojourner Truth, born Isabella Bomfree, this original play explores the unlikely friendship of two women – a former slave and the white abolitionist Olive Gilbert who helped her write her life story. In 1843, “Belle” declared that the Spirit called on her to preach the truth, renaming herself Sojourner Truth. Truth became an outspoken advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women’s rights in the nineteenth century. In 1850, she dictated what would become her autobiography—The Narrative of Sojourner Truth—to Olive Gilbert, who assisted in its publication. Truth survived on sales of the book, which also brought her national recognition. Her Civil War work earned her an invitation to meet President Abraham Lincoln in 1864. Truth died in 1883. Her final words were “be a follower of the Lord Jesus.”