Capt. Micah Murphy, commander, Military Sealift Command Pacific (left) and Vice Adm. John F. G. Wade, commander, U.S. Third Fleet, render honors during the christening ceremony of Military Sealift Command’s newest fleet replenishment oiler USNS Sojourner Truth (T-AO 210) at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, Calif., April 26, 2025. (Sarah Cannon/U.S. Navy)
SAN DIEGO, C.A. (Tribune News Service) — Barbara Allen, sixth great-granddaughter of Sojourner Truth, says she’ll never forget the ceremony where the U.S. Navy christened a John Lewis-class oiler the USNS Sojourner Truth in honor of the abolitionist, women’s rights champion and Ulster County, N.Y., native.
Allen, the ship’s “sponsor” under a longstanding naval tradition that dates back to 1908, recalled smashing a champagne bottle on the ship during a ceremony at a San Diego shipyard on Saturday, April 26. Allen was joined by her granddaughter Carmen Allen, 19, who served as the ship’s “maid of honor” at the ceremony attended by 2,000 people.
“Just breaking that champagne bottle, I felt the spirit of Sojourner standing next to me, and I’ll never forget it,” Allen, of Battle Creek, Michigan, said.
“It immediately started moving, it was the first time it touched water,” she added.
Allen said it was great to share this moment with her granddaughter, Truth’s eighth great-granddaughter.
From left, Carmen Allen, eighth great-grandaugther of Sojourner Truth, and her grandmother Barbara Allen, sixth great-grandaughter of Truth stand with a U.S. Navy artist who created a painting depicting the U.S Navy John Lewis Class oiler USNS Sojourner Truth, the Ulster County Courthouse, the Sojourner Mars rover, and Sojourner Truth State Park. Barbara Allen, the ship’s sponsor helped to Christen the vessel by smashing a bottle of champagne during a special ceremony on April 26 at shipyard in San Diego. Carmen Allen,19, served as “maid of honor” for the event. (photo provided)
“For her to be able to see something like this was unbelievable,” she said.
Sponsors are always women, Allen added. She admitted she hadn’t known about this tradition before this.
Truth was born in 1797 in the town of Esopus as Isabella Baumfree and was one of seven slaves owned by Johannes Hardenburgh. She was sold at about age 12 to John Ignatius Dumont, who operated a farm in what is now the town of Esopus.
She left Esopus in 1826, after Dumont broke a promise to free her, and took her infant daughter and walked 11 miles to Poppletown, in New Paltz, where she was taken in by the VanWagenen family in a Quaker community. In 1828, a year after New York abolished slavery, Truth became the first Black woman to win a lawsuit against a white man when she took Dumont to court for illegally selling her 5-year-old son to an Alabama slave owner.
Allen said in a Thursday, May 1, interview that she still feels a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. “My trip to San Diego and to see her honored not just on a plaque or building, but on a working ship honoring her legacy is profoundly moving,” she added.
Allen said she arrived on Thursday, April 24, then took a tour of the ship and took part in another naval ceremony on Friday, April 25, “mast stepping” ceremony. followed by a big reception dinner for Allen and her granddaughter, attended by 200 people.
Allen presented several different gifts to the ship, including a framed poster of Truth along with several books, including Truth’s narrative and a book about her “Ain’t I a Woman” speech for the ship’s library.
Allen and her granddaughter were each presented with a painting depicting the ship, Truth herself, the Ulster County Courthouse in Kingston where Truth won the case against DuMont to get her son back, Sojourner Truth State Park and the Sojourner Mars rover.
A painting depicting the U.S. Navy John Lewis Class Oiler USNS Sojourner Truth along with Truth, The Ulster County Courthouse, the Sojouner Mars rover and Sojourner Truth State Park , was given to Barbara Allen, of Battle Creek Michigan, the sixth great-granddaughter of Sojourner Truth, during a weekend of ceremonies celebrating the christening of the ship at a shipyard in San Diego, C.A. The Ulster County Courthouse was the place where Truth became the first Black woman to win a lawsuit against a white man when she took Dumont to court for illegally selling her 5-year-old son to an Alabama slave owner. (photo provided).
Allen hopes to come to Ulster County and display the painting and has been in talks with county officials to display it at Sojourner Truth-related events this year, possibly in August and November.
“Ulster County is a second home for me,” she said.
Allen said she only had a short talk with the artist
“They also presented me with a wooden box housing the champagne bottle that I broke on the bow of the ship,” she said.
While Allen has done a lot of events about Sojourner Truth, both in Battle Creek, where Truth lived and did much of her activist work, and in Ulster County, and events for the two children’s books she’s authored, she said nothing was quite like this event.
Allen said a representative from the Navy reached out to her in 2023, letting her and other family members know that Sojourner Truth was picked for the next vessel in the John Lewis Class fleet. Allen recalled that the Navy rep reached out to her after a Google search. “I suspect my name was the first to pop up with my children’s books and the events I’ve done in other places,” she added.
Allen explained the ship’s role.
The oiler replenishes the Navy ships, delivering crucial cargo and providing humanitarian assistance to those in crisis, Allen said. “They say it is one of the most important ships.”
“Those were big parts that I found compelling,” Allen said. “They also carry mail to sailors at sea and keep them connected to their loved ones.”
Being the ship’s sponsor comes with several obligations, including being part of nine major milestones of the ship, Allen said. She added that she is technically considered a member of the crew.
That started with the laying of the keel ceremony last year, which she could not attend.
She said the next most important milestone in the ship’s history will be the commissioning ceremony, where it is accepted by the U.S. Navy, and becomes part of the active fleet.
That ceremony is still about a year from now, when all construction is finished, she said.
“The sponsor mans the ship and ‘brings her to life,” Allen said. “The crew won’t board until I say that.”
Turning back to Truth, Allen said her great, great, great, great, great, great-grandmother’s life has a message for people during a difficult time in this country’s history.
“I hope people take away that doing the right thing and standing up for the truth is not in vain,” Allen said. “You may not see a payback in our lifetime, just like Sojourner didn’t, but eventually you’ll see the effect of your hard work.”
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