Phillis Wheatley
American
Phillis Wheatley is notable as the first African American and, notably, only the second woman in America, to publish a book.
Phillis Wheatley is notable as the first African American and, notably, only the second woman in America, to publish a book.
| Y/M/D | Description | Association | Composition | Place | Locale | Food | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y/M/D | Description | Association | Composition | Place | Locale | Food | Event |
| 1753/00/00 | Phillis Wheatley is born in the Senegambia region of West Africa c 1753. | Born | |||||
| 1761/00/00 | Phillis Wheatley is sold into slavery and brought to America. She will be bought again by Boston merchant and tailor John Wheatley. | Enslavement | |||||
| 1767/12/21 | Wheatley's poem, "On Messrs Hussey and Coffin" is published in the Rhode Island's Newport Mercury newspaper. | Author | |||||
| 1770/00/00 | Phillis Wheatley writes "On the Death of the Rev Mr GEORGE WHITEFIELD", published in 1770. | Author | |||||
| 1773/00/00 | Phillis Wheatley's book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, is published under the patronage of Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon. Wheatley was inspired by her attendance of services at the Old South Meeting House as a child. | Author | Old South Meetinghouse | Boston | |||
| 1773/00/00 | Manumitted by the Wheatley family, the poet sails to London in 1773. Her reputation preceded her. She meets many influential people, including the Lord Mayor of London who presents her with a copy of Milton's Paradise Lost. | Guest | |||||
| 1773/09/00 | Learning of Mrs Wheatley's ill health, Phillis Wheatley returns to Boston prior to her book's appearance. Arriving in Boston in September 1773, she nursed her mistress until Susanna Wheatley died the following March. | Work | |||||
| 1775/12/00 | Wheatley sends a poem to George Washington that ends with "Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side, Thy ev'ry action let the goddess guide. A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine, With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! Be thine. | Author | |||||
| 1776/02/00 | George Washington writes to "Miss Phillis" and signs off as "Your obedient humble servant,". Washington offers an invitation for Wheatley to call on him at his headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. | Addressee | |||||
| 1776/03/28 | Phillis Wheatley may have met with Washington for about 30 minutes at his headquarters in Cambridge. Although B J Lossing later claimed that she had visited in March of 1776, there is no contemporaneous evidence of such a meeting. | Guest | Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site | Cambridge, MA | |||
| 1778/09/00 | Phillis Wheatley lives with various members of the Wheatley family until 1778. After the death of John Wheatley and his daughter, Phillis moves to her own home. | Life | |||||
| 1780/00/00 | Phillis marries John Peters, a free black Bostonian who held a variety of jobs before falling into debt. She bores the frequently absent Peters three children. Beset with financial problems, she sells her volume of Paradise Lost to help pay his debts. | Freedom | |||||
| 1784/12/05 | Phillis Wheatley descends into poverty in the final years of her life. Supporting herself and her only surviving child, she works in a Boston boarding house. Both the poet and her child died there on December 5, 1784. | Died |
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.