Phillis Wheatley arrived in Boston from her African homeland in July 1761. Though only about seven or eight years old, she was transported with other captives aboard the ship Phillis as part of an ongoing push to make slavery central to the economies, politics, and daily life in North America. Purchased by a New England merchant, John Wheatley, and “given” to his wife Susanna, the young girl found herself far from her West African home, suddenly immersed in a foreign culture where--however benign the Wheatleys themselves may have viewed their relationship to the young girl--she was, in fact, enslaved.
Though we cannot recover much of Phillis Wheatley’s personal or family history prior to what must have been a terrifying transatlantic journey, we do know reasons why she remarkably became, as a young adolescent, a celebrity author, first in her new “home” city of Boston, and, not long afterwards, internationally.
This project honors Phillis Wheatley Peters and her legacies, and spotlights the learning power and the significance of literature in our lives. Through a partnership of the University of Georgia and TCU, this project also celebrates the efficacy of collaborative learning informed by a participatory vision of the humanities and the arts. Our codirectors, contributing team members, and many sponsoring groups and organizations have come together in shared learning throughout the 2023 anniversary year of Wheatley Peters’s Poems. Learn more at the project website.
4pm ET; 3pm CT
Presented by American Antiquarian Society (AAS) archivists featuring Professor Sarah Robbins (Texas Christian University), Professor Barbara McCaskill (University of Georgia), Ashley Cataldo (AAS), and Elizabeth Watts Pope (AAS).
Register to watch this talk virtually.
4:30pm ET; 3:30 CT
A Book Talk by Professor Vincent Carretta in celebration of a new and revised edition of his book, Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage.
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10am ET; 9am CT (90 minutes)
Featuring panelists Tara Bynum, University of Iowa, Keith Hughes, University of Edinburgh, George Elliott Clarke, University of Toronto, and Lenora Warren, Cornell University, and moderated by John Lowe, University of Georgia.
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This edition includes all of the known surviving writings of the poet Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784), and are accompanied by an introduction to her life and times, as well as extensive textual and explanatory notes.
Author Vincent Carretta details Wheatley's origins, upbringing, and how she gained her freedom. Carretta also writes about the role Wheatley played in the production, marketing, and distribution of her writing.
Published in London in 1773, this is Phillis Wheatley's first book of poetry.
Level: High School. Imagines the life and times of Wheatley in verse.
10am ET; 9am CT (90 mins)
Presented by Professor Kim Coles (University of Maryland) and co-convened by Professor Sujata Iyengar (University of Georgia), Professor Miriam Jacobson (University of Georgia), and Librarian Anne Meyers DeVine (University of Georgia).
2pm ET; 1pm CT (90 mins)
Presented by Professor Kim Coles (University of Maryland), Professor David Diamond (University of Georgia), Professor Miriam Jacobson (University of Georgia), Professor Sujata Iyengar (University of Georgia), and Librarian Anne Meyers DeVine (University of Georgia).
Thought to be the year of Phillis Wheatley’s first writings, motivated by her religious education by Susanna and John.
Potential first writings include:
Stongest candidate: a four-line poem written on the last page of the 1773 diary of the Congregationalist minister, Jeremy Belknap. Belknap identifies the poem as “Phillis Wheatley’s first Effort— A.D. 1765.”
A letter to the Rev. Mr. Occom, the Indian Minister; the missing poem “On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell, when Sick, 1765” included in her 1772 “Proposals.”
Phillis Wheatley wrote “On Being Brought from Africa to America”, the poem for which she is best known today.
Phillis Wheatley baptized on August 18, 1771
Phillis Wheatley and John Peters left Boston and disappeared from public view for several years.
Phillis Wheatley continued to write, with hope of publishing a second book. Her "Propoals" were never published, and few of her other writings were discovered between 1776-1784.
Credits: Phillis Wheatley Historical Society; VIncent Caretta
