Phillis Wheatley

Shaun Keating Black History Month, News Feather Story 2015

The first African-American woman to publish a book.

After being sold into slavery, Phillis Wheatley became the first Black woman to publish a book.

  1. Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753 in Senegal
  2. She was sold into slavery at age 7 and taken to America.
  3. She was purchased by John Wheatley in Boston.
  4. The Wheatley family taught her to read and write.
  5. At age 12 she started writing poetry.
  6. Many of her poems were dedicated to famous people.
  7. She received widespread acclaim, especially in London.
  8. Thomas Paine published her poems. Voltaire liked them too.
  9. She got to meet George Washington after she wrote about him.
  10. She died in poverty at the age of 31 in Boston.

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