Enduring Truths
Sojourner's Shadows and Substance
Darcy Grimaldo Grigsby
- Runaway
- slave
- Sojourner
- Truth
- gained
- fame
- in
- the
- nineteenth
- century
- as
- an
- abolitionist,
- feminist,
- and
- orator
- and
- earned
- a
- living
- partly
- by
- selling
- photographic
- carte
- de
- visite
- portraits
- of
- herself
- at
- lectures
- and
- by
- mail.
- Cartes
- de
- visite,
- similar
- in
- format
- to
- calling
- cards,
- were
- relatively
- inexpensive
- collectibles
- that
- quickly
- became
- a
- new
- mode
- of
- mass
- communication.
- Despite
- being
- illiterate,
- Truth
- copyrighted
- her
- photographs
- in
- her
- name
- and
- added
- the
- caption
- “I
- Sell
- the
- Shadow
- to
- Support
- the
- Substance.
- Sojourner
- Truth.”Featuring
- the
- largest
- collection
- of
- Truth’s
- photographs
- ever
- published,
- Enduring
- Truths
- is
- the
- first
- book
- to
- explore
- how
- she
- used
- her
- image,
- the
- press,
- the
- postal
- service,
- and
- copyright
- laws
- to
- support
- her
- activism
- and
- herself.
- Darcy
- Grimaldo
- Grigsby
- establishes
- a
- range
- of
- important
- contexts
- for
- Truth’s
- portraits,
- including
- the
- strategic
- role
- of
- photography
- and
- copyright
- for
- an
- illiterate
- former
- slave;
- the
- shared
- politics
- of
- Truth’s
- cartes
- de
- visite
- and
- federal
- banknotes,
- which
- were
- both
- created
- to
- fund
- the
- Union
- cause;
- and
- the
- ways
- that
- photochemical
- limitations
- complicated
- the
- portrayal
- of
- different
- skin
- tones.
- Insightful
- and
- powerful,
- Enduring
- Truths
- shows
- how
- Truth
- made
- her
- photographic
- portrait
- worth
- money
- in
- order
- to
- end
- slavery—and
- also
- became
- the
- strategic
- author
- of
- her
- public self.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
