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Phillis Wheatley, an African-born poet, publishes her book.
1773
Phillis Wheatley, an African-born poet, published Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, becoming the second American woman to publish a book. Wheatley was born in Senegal, circa 1753, and was sold as an enslaved Black girl in 1761 to Boston tailor John Wheatley, whose wife tutored young Phillis, enabling her to become literate. Wheatley began writing verses in her early teens. Manumitted in 1773, she traveled to London and was received by the Lord Mayor and other influential Londoners. On February 28, 1776, Wheatley had an audience with General George Washington at his Cambridge, Massachusetts headquarters, so that he could express his appreciation for her poem in his honor.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.