The United States Postal Service released a postage stamp featuring the image of Wheatley and commemorating her legacy
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Figure timeline
Phillis Wheatley
Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly, was an American writer who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America, where she was bought by the Wheatley family of Boston. After she learned to read and write, they encouraged her poetry when t…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
culture · American writer (c. 1753–1784) · poet · writer · slave · also Phillis Wheatley, Phillis Wheatley Peters, Philis Wheatley, Phillis Peters, Wheatley
Born 8 May 1753 · Died 5 December 1784 · Q257911
18 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
5 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Quote
2026· 1 entry
2025· 1 entry
CounterPunch: Phillis Wheatley: Genius, Poet, and Pioneer in the Face of Slavery
- #news
- #headline
2023· 2 entries
WGBH: Unpacking Phillis Wheatley’s life as she’s brought to the stage
- #news
- #headline
Wall Street Journal: ‘The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley’ Review: A Poet’s Emancipation
- #news
- #headline
2022· 1 entry
AllHipHop: Phillis Wheatley – America’s First Groundbreaking Poet
- #news
- #headline
2020· 1 entry
American poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers published her The Age of Phillis, based on the understanding that Margaretta Matilda Odell's account of Wheatley's life portrayed Wheatley inaccurately, and as a character in a senti
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2019· 1 entry
Sterling Journal-Advocate: Black History Month: Phillis Wheatley and Billy Lee
- #news
- #headline
2012· 1 entry
Robert Morris University named the new building for their School of Communications and Information Sciences after Phillis Wheatley
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2002· 1 entry
The scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Phillis Wheatley as one of his 100 Greatest African Americans
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1974· 1 entry
Eleanor Smith argued that the Wheatley family took interest in her at a young age because of her timid and submissive nature
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1954· 1 entry
In Tremé, one of the oldest African-American neighborhoods in the US
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1920· 1 entry
In Greenville, South Carolina, and in 1924 (spelled "Phyllis") in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1896· 1 entry
The Phyllis Wheatley Circle
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1892· 2 entries
“The Afro-American in Literature”
- #wikiquote
- #quote
A Phyllis Wheatley Circle was formed in Greenville, Mississippi
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1838· 1 entry
Boston-based publisher and abolitionist Isaac Knapp published a collection of Wheatley's poetry, along with that of enslaved North Carolina poet George Moses Horton, under the title Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley,
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1784· 1 entry
Died 1784-12-05.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #death
1753· 1 entry
Born 1753-05-08.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth