Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, 1773, Harvard University
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Phillis Wheatley was the first published African-American poet and one of the first published American female poets. Wheatley was kidnapped from Senegal in 1761 and sold into slavery in the Americas. She was purchased and employed as a domestic servant by a family that taught her Latin and Greek. Wheatley published her first poem in 1767. In 1773, she published a volume of verse entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. In doing so, she became the first slave, first African-American, and third woman to publish poetry. Her status continued to grow in the coming years. In 1776, she accepted an invitation to meet with George Washington. Wheatley’s story went on to inspire future generations of African-Americans to pursue education and literary careers.
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