At the end of October 250 years ago, famed poet Phillis Wheatley was a free woman. At some point in October (I have not discovered the exact date) the Wheatley family that had enslaved her manumitted her from slavery immediately following her return from London where her book Reflections on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was published. This was the first book of poetry written in English by a person of African ancestry.

In November 2023, a play to commemorate Phillis Wheatley’s life and accomplishments will be running at the Old South Meeting House in Boston, where she had attended church. https://revolutionaryspaces.org/explore/upcoming-programs/phillis-in-boston/