Sojourner Truth Study Club, est. 1938, St. Louis, Missouri

As early as 1895, numerous black civic associations adopted the name Sojourner Truth Club, or a variation of this name, in honor of the abolitionist and civil and women's rights leader, Sojourner Truth (c. 1797-1893). Examples listing club names, places, years founded, and sources include:

Sojourner Truth Club, Birmingham, AL, 1895
The Montgomery Advertiser (19 Feb 1968, Page 13)

Sojourner Truth Club, Battle Creek, Michigan, 1897
Battle Creek Enquirer, 28 Oct 1997, page 21)

Sojourner Truth Club, Los Angeles, CA, 1906
The Los Angeles Times (13 Apr 1906, Page 27)

Sojourner Truth Club, Denver, CO, by 1916
The Denver Star (29 Apr 1916, Page 5)

Sojourner Truth Study Club, Omaha, NE, by 1933
The Omaha guide (19 Aug 1933, Page 4)

Sojourner Truth Study Club, St. Louis, MO, by 1938 Leslie, Lavonne. The History of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc.: A Legacy of Service. United States, Xlibris, 2012, page 451

Women's Sojourner Truth Study Club, Pasadena, CA,
by 1945 California Eagle (27 Sep 1945, Page 10)

Sojourner Truth Political Study Club, Los Angeles, CA, by 1946 Metropolitan Pasadena Star-News (2 Apr 1946, Page 10)

Sojourner Truth Club, Richmond, IN, by 1974
Palladium-Item (10 Mar 1974, Page 35)

In collaboration with two museum partners and St. Louis Style House, M4F is commemorating the St. Louis-based Sojourner Truth Study Club with an experimental, wearable memorial (a t-shirt!). Motivation for this commemorative intervention is three-fold:

First, reflecting interests in reparative public humanities, we are promoting local memory of the Sojourner Truth Study Club to counter willful ignorance and specific hostility to critical race thought in our 21st century context, by elevating the long history of organized truth-seeking.

Second, on a memorial landscape where contributions of people of color, women, and women of color in particular are largely missing, this wearable memorial spreads veneration of this remarkable American leader, and awareness of the community efforts she inspired.

Finally, we are donating proceeds of sales of this limited run of commemorative t-shirts to support the George B. Vashon Museum and the Griot Museum of Black History, two M4F partners who have supported us in researching this history, and who play key roles in keeping the memory and legacy of black community organizing alive in St. Louis.

Purchase a Sojourner Truth Study Club T-Shirt at any of these locations, while supplies last: