In this series, Change.MillionVoices celebrates inspirational women from the past and present day America. We value these women for the way they continue to shape our culture and history today. 

The First African American Woman To Publish A Book Of Poetry

Philis Wheatley was born in Gambia, After in the 1750s. She was captured by slave traders and sent to America when she was still a child, where she was sold to the Wheatley family in Boston, MA, according to Women’s History.

The family educated Wheatley upon her arrival, allowing her to read the Bible, as well as classic literature. She excelled in studies of astronomy and geography, and began writing poetry around the age of 14.

#OnThisDay Philis Wheatley was baptized at the Old South Church.

Philis Wheatley Peters was an American author who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight..(1/2) pic.twitter.com/HhheP2zhHx

— The Freedom Trail (@TheFreedomTrail) August 18, 2022

“An Elegiac Poem, on the Death of the Celebrated Divine George Whitefield” shot Wheatley to fame in 1770. So much so she traveled internationally to publish her work, “Poems of Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.”

Religion was a key influence in Wheatley’s works, leading her to fame within Protestant communities in America and Great Britain. Her talents are credited with proving the equality of those trafficked within the international slave trade from Africa.

Who Are You Celebrating For The 2023 Women’s History Month?

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