Celebrate African American History Month with the next event in our ongoing “Race and American Culture” series led by Dr. Ian Afflerbach.

Dr. Afflerbach will examine the life and writings of Phillis Wheatley. In 1773, Wheatley published her first book of poetry–the first of its kind by any person of African descent in English. For this reason, Wheatley marks the inaugural moment of an African-American literary tradition.

Explore Wheatley’s most iconic poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” while also discussing her difficult path to publication, including the infamous “Prefaces” that had to accompany her volume in order to convince white readers that this creative and intelligent African-American woman really existed.

Copies of the Prefaces and the poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America” are available at your branch’s Ask Us desk or The Project Gutenberg.

Celebrating African-American History is sponsored by FCPL Friends & Advocates.