Our Chapter Namesake
Phillis Wheatley
(c. 1753–1784)
The members who formed our chapter wanted to honor a woman from American history who had been overlooked through time. Several women were nominated, including Clementina Rind, Ona Judge, and Ana Maria Lane.
​
Ultimately, Phillis Wheatley was chosen for her contributions to American literature and abolitionism. Her poems were, and still are, read by many people worldwide. Through her publications, she showed that enslaved Africans were intelligent and creative. Her poetry ultimately helped the abolition movement in the United States and overseas.
Phillis Wheatley’s first poem, On Messrs Hussey and Coffin, was published in Rhode Island’s Newport Mercury newspaper on December 21, 1767, when she was about 13 years old. The publication made Phillis the first enslaved woman to publish poetry in the British American Colonies. Her first book of poetry, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was subsequently published in 1773. It contained a foreword by John Hancock and several other prominent Boston gentlemen in addition to the portrait of Wheatley featured in our website header.
​
Inspiration for her poems came from classical studies, her African heritage, and the news of the day. Phillis also wrote several poems about the Revolutionary War, including one in honor of George Washington. Washington was so impressed by her poetry that he invited Phillis to meet with him at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They met there in March 1776.
​
Phillis was emancipated in 1773 but continued to live with members of the Wheatley family until 1778. Soon after, she married a freedman named John Peters. Phillis died on December 5, 1784, in Boston. Unfortunately, her and John's three children died in infancy. She has no living descendants. ​
A statue of Phillis Wheatley Peters (above left) and a first edition book of poetry (above right) from the National Museum of African American History and Culture's Slavery and Freedom exhibit.
E Pluribus Unum Educational Initiative
​
The Daughters of the American Revolution launched the "E Pluribus Unum Educational Initiative" in 2020 to highlight often underrepresented Revolutionary War Patriots, including African Americans, Native Americans, and women. The initiative aligns with DAR's mission to honor all individuals who contributed to American independence. The three main goals are: expanding research on Patriots of color; uncovering more stories and names of these diverse contributors; and providing more historical, educational, and genealogical resources about people of color and women from the Colonial period on the DAR website.