The U.S. Postal Service will honor Phillis Wheatley, the first published African-American poet, with the forty ninth Black Heritage Stamp, persevering with a decades-long sequence recognizing Black contributions to American historical past.
The stamp, a part of the Postal Service’s Black Heritage sequence that started in 1978, will function a portrait of Wheatley. It will commemorate her position as a pioneering Black literary determine whose work grew to become recognized internationally within the 18th century.
According to the Postal Service, the brand new stamp is meant to recognize Wheatley’s “enduring legacy and her position as a trailblazing voice in literature.” The company mentioned her inclusion displays the sequence’ mission to honor people whose contributions formed the nation’s cultural and mental life.
Wheatley was born in West Africa and delivered to Boston as an enslaved youngster within the early 1760s. She was educated by her enslavers, the Wheatley household. Early in her life, she demonstrated extraordinary literary expertise, which led to a world profession. In 1773, she printed “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral,” turning into the primary African-American lady to publish a e-book of poetry. The quantity was printed in London and acquired consideration from readers in each Europe and the American colonies.
Literary historians have lengthy noted Wheatley’s significance in early American literature by including her work to scholarly cannon. The Library of Congress describes Wheatley as “a significant determine within the early historical past of African American literature,” noting that her work challenged prevailing assumptions about race, mind and inventive capacity in the course of the colonial interval.
Despite her acclaim, Wheatley’s life after publication was marked by struggle. She was free of slavery however struggled financially and died in 1784 at about age 31. Scholars have since reassessed her poetry and historic significance, putting her among the many foundational voices of American literature.
The Black Heritage Stamp sequence has beforehand honored figures corresponding to Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Toni Morrison. The ceremony will happen Jan. 29 11 a.m. EST on the Old South Meeting House in Washington.
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