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Learn about the extraordinary life and complex of legacy of Phillis Wheatley Peters whose book of poems "Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral" was the first published volume of poetry by an African American.


Phillis Wheatley Peters was born in West Africa and enslaved at the age of 7 or 8. She was brought to Boston and then enslaved by the Wheatley family in 1761. Phillis published "Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral" a book of poetry in 1773. The Wheatley family manumitted Phillis in 1775. Three years later, Phillis married John Peters. Phillis Wheatley Peters died in 1784. Her memory was used as an example of black excellence in the argument for the abolition of slavery, while subsequent generations continue to shape her legacy.