Phillis Wheatley's first publication
- When
- 1770
- Where
- Unspecified
- Episodes
- 1
In 1770, Phillis Wheatley composed a poetic tribute to the late Reverend George Whitefield. This work was later included in her 1773 book, establishing her as the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry.
Episodes
Background and detail
Background. Phillis Wheatley was transported to North America and bought by the Wheatley family of Boston. Her education was unprecedented for an enslaved person and unusual for a woman of any race at the time. Reverend George Whitefield died in September 1770, and Wheatley wrote a tribute to his memory.
Publication. Wheatley's elegy to Whitefield was written in 1770. Her literary reputation was solidified by the 1773 publication of her book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, which brought her fame in England and the colonies.
People involved
- Phillis Wheatley · Author
- George Whitefield · Subject of elegy
Sources
- Phillis Wheatley Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-21
- George Whitefield Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-28
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.