Sojourner Truth made Battle Creek her home

One of the most important figures in American history spent the last chapter of her life in Battle Creek. Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in New York around 1797. She escaped to freedom in 1826. Later she became a famous abolitionist, preacher, and champion of women’s rights. She first came to Battle Creek in 1856 to speak to the local Quakers. She liked what she found: a town full of abolitionists and reformers. So she moved here the next year and made it her home for the rest of her life. She traveled out to speak across the country and returned between journeys.

Truth died in Battle Creek in 1883. She is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, not far — as it happens — from the grave of cereal magnate C.W. Post. Downtown, a striking twelve-foot bronze monument honors her at the corner of Division and Michigan. The Battle Creek history museum tells more of her story.