Throughout his life Ralph Bunche worked to improve race relations and further the cause of civil rights. For 22 years he served on the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, earning its highest honor, the Spingarn Medal, in 1949. He participated in several civil rights demonstrations, including the 1963 March on Washington. That same year, U.S. President John F. Kennedy awarded him the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. Sojourner Truth, American abolitionist and advocate of women's rights, born into slavery in Hurley, Ulster County, New York, and originally named Isabella. (She was freed when New York State ema