Captured and taken from her home in Africa as a young girl, this enslaved person found power in the written word and is still studied for her poetry today.

When the slave ship brought her to Boston in 1761 when she was around 7, she was purchased to be a domestic slave by John and Susanna Wheatley. They named the frail young girl Phillis, after the ship on which she was carried. She was, in fact, in such poor health that the ship’s captain sold her for a small amount, believing her to be terminally ill.

Phillis simply needed care and attention. When her masters realized what a capacity the girl had for learning, they educated her, which was mostly unheard of at that time. Accounts vary on how many domestic duties were still expected of the girl. Reportedly, though again accounts vary, in less than two years she mastered English, Greek, Latin, and more. Phillis also became proficient in astronomy, British literature, geography, history, religion, and history. 

All of this knowledge helped her to hone skills in poetry, which she began writing around age 12. She published her first poem just six years after her arrival in the American colonies and became internationally known after her tribute elegy for George Whitfield, a popular preacher, was published in response to his passing in 1770. 

Unable to find a publisher for her poetry in the colonies, she traveled across the Atlantic to London with the Wheatleys’ son, Nathaniel. She was adored by all who met her and an English countess sponsored the printing of her first collection of poetry, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. It marked the first book written by a Black woman in America and the first volume of poetry by any African American in modern times. Shortly after this, the Wheatleys freed her from her enslavement. 

She continued her poetry and eventually married, but much about her life 1776 and her death in 1784 is unknown. Her work lives on to inspire and encourage. Check out her first published book and others at my bookshop here. This is an affiliate link; thank you for supporting my writing.