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Phillis Wheatley

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Phillis Wheatley
Phillis Wheatley was the first published African-American female poet. She was born in the middle of the eighteenth century, possibly in areas in or around Senegal. Captured around the age of seven, she was sold to a distinguished Bostonian family as a domestic slave. As was the tradition those days, the family renamed her Phillis after the slave ship that brought her, also giving her their surname Wheatley. However, unlike other slaveholders, they gave her education and encouraged her to write poetry. Very soon, she became a part of the household and the family took active interest in publishing her only book, ‘Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral’, setting her free shortly thereafter. Unfit for any hard job, her life after the death of her benefactors was spent in poverty. Working as a charwoman, she continued to write, but could not publish her second collection of poems for want of subscriptions. The poet, who had been invited by George Washington for poetry reading, died alone and uncared for in a boarding house among abject poverty, at the age of thirty-one.
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Born
May 8, 1753 Black Celebrities Born on May 8
Birth Place
West Africa
Nationality
American
Sun Sign
Taurus
Famous As
Poet
Died At Age
31
Place Of Death
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Spouse(s)
John Peters (m. 1778–1784)
Children
Three
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thebostonsun.com

Old South Church to Celebrate Phillis Wheatley Sunday

Old South Church will again celebrate one its most notable past parishioners this May 8, with the return of Phillis Wheatley Sunday. A member of the church during the American Revolution, as well as the first published African American author, Wheatley was kidnapped from her African homeland at around the age of 7. She learned English and Latin on her own, as well as how to write from white children. Wheatley began writing poetry as a teen and went on to become a celebrated poet.
BOSTON, MA
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Phillis Wheatley letter is the highlight of Women’s History Month at the Museum of the American Revolution

This story originally appeared on The Philadelphia Tribune. Women’s History Month was created to highlight the contributions of women to history and society. The stories of successful and innovative men have been well documented, but many times the roles of women are left out. Their stories are sometimes not told and their roles in the American Revolution is no exception. History about the American Revolution never forgets George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, but how about Phillis Wheatley, Deborah Sampson and Betsy Ross?
PHILADELPHIA, PA
thebuzzmagazines.com

Friends of Phillis Wheatley

Three neighbors are celebrating the one-year anniversary of the nonprofit they founded. Retired Rice University professors Diane Wolfthal and Linda Neagley and Diane’s daughter Leah, who works in the Fifth Ward, established Friends of Phillis Wheatley High School to serve students who are experiencing poverty, food insecurity, or homelessness. Initially, they focused on stocking the school with food, clothing, and hygiene products. By the second term, they began supporting the students’ academic progress through STAAR tutoring and SAT prep classes. Volunteer tutors come from St. John’s School, Rice University, and alumni of Morehouse College. Ninety-four percent of Phillis Wheatley High School students meet the income criteria for free/reduced lunch. To donate or volunteer, contact [email protected].
HOUSTON, TX
Urban Milwaukee

Phillis Wheatley Redevelopment Progressing

The former Phillis Wheatley School at 2442 N. 20th St. will soon reopen as 42 apartments. It’s the latest former Milwaukee Public Schools building to be converted to affordable housing. A new, four-story building, addressed as 1908 W. Meinecke Ave., will contain an additional 40 apartments. It’s being developed...
MILWAUKEE, WI
Delaware County Daily Times

Actress brings Phillis Wheatley to life at Neumann University

ASTON — Through the acting skills of Dr. Daisy Century, Delaware County residents can meet Phillis Wheatley, a slave who became an American poet, on Thursday, Feb. 10, at Neumann University. Century will portray Wheatley in a program entitled “The Life of Phillis Wheatley: Literary Genius” at 1:30 p.m. in the Meagher Theatre.
DELAWARE COUNTY, PA
Smithonian

How Phillis Wheatley Beat All Expectations

Before Phillis Wheatley published her renowned collection Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in 1773, she’d had to withstand an interrogation by 18 men deemed “the most respectable characters in Boston.” Their task was to determine whether an enslaved girl, estimated to be about 18 or 19 years old at the time, had in fact written the poems herself, given widespread disbelief that a person like her—African, Black, female, young—could deliver such exquisite words. She passed the inspection with “flying colors,” the historian and literary critic Henry Louis Gates Jr. says in his 2003 book The Trials of Phillis Wheatley.
BOOKS & LITERATURE
historydaily.org

Phillis Wheatley, America's First Published Black Poet

Phillis Wheatley, African-American author and poet. Engraved by Scipio Moorhead, 1773. (VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images) Phillis Wheatley lived a remarkable life full of triumph over adversity. She the first African-American poet to be published in the New World and the first black woman to become a household name in the fledgling United States, but she had to prove herself again and again, even in a court of law.
BOOKS & LITERATURE