A Letter from Phillis, Carole Gary Staples

Artwork Overview

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A Letter from Phillis, 2012
Where object was made: West Chester, Ohio, United States
Material/technique: machine quilting; appliqué; cotton batting; stenciling; machine piecing; cotton fabric; feather pen
Accession number: EL2017.040
Not on display

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Label texts

And Still We Rise

1773: Phillis Wheatley, then a slave, convinces bookseller Archibald Bell to publish her collection Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Wheatley is the first African American woman to have her work published and only the second American woman to have a book of poetry published. The quilt shows Wheatley writing at her desk and includes images of her actual handwriting. She was a trail-blazer for African American authors into the literary world.

Exhibitions