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• 1 media/2whea0020b.jpg media/2whea0020b.jpg 2021-09-14T18:55:15+00:00 Phillis Wheatley's Heritage 14 By: Danni Malinski plain 2021-12-12T23:16:41+00:00 Phillis Wheatley is best known as the first published female author in the United States, however, she is also recognized as the first African American to have their work published. As a Black woman, Wheatley’s heritage impacted all areas of her life and played a large role in both her identity and legacy as an author. It is estimated that Wheatley was born in West Africa in 1753 and kidnapped at the age of eight to be sold into slavery^[1]. As a young child, Wheatley was purchased by a Boston family and quickly showed an affinity for learning. She was taught to read and write at the discretion of her enslavers^[2] which set her apart from other African Americans during her time as most Black people were denied the right to any form of education. With the support of her owner, Wheatley began sharing her poems at a young age and soon began searching for an opportunity to continue to publish her work. While Wheatley’s undeniable talent and access to education aided in her becoming a published author, her understanding of her African heritage and ability to communicate it is what ultimately set her apart as a Black woman during her time.
   People learn to identify with their heritage through many different means, one of those being through the environment they are raised in. However, African Americans faced a different set of obstacles than other immigrants since “... his [or her] predominantly slave status, together with racial and cultural prejudice, barred him [or her] from serious consideration as an assimilable element of the society”^[3]. Thus Black people were left with no resources to understand their African heritage after being forced to come to a new country with no hope of being accepted into the society in which they were enslaved. For the descendants of slaves in the present day, tracing their genealogy can prove to be an almost impossible task as African descendants were not counted in the federal Census until over two hundred years after they began to arrive in the United States. As Nicole Ellis wrote for The Washington Post, “Even after abolition, the black experience has fallen victim to campaigns that obscure the darkest parts of the American story, diminishing African Americans’ connections to their pasts and warping the collective memory of the nation’s history”^[4]. If the Black individual’s tie to their past was subsidized post-abolition,  it can only be assumed that it was impossible to maintain before abolition became a reality. These modern examples of how people must continue to fight for an understanding of their heritage today reflect the unimaginable difficulty that Black people must have faced in doing so while enslaved.
  It is also worth noting that Black women in particular may have different obstacles to overcome when identifying with their heritage due to social constructs and gender roles. While women play an integral role in the conservation and continuation of heritage understanding in their communities, it is clear that throughout history they were not provided the resources to do so in many capacities, especially African American women. The idea of intangible cultural heritage is important in any community and is described as “practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and skills– as well as the instruments, artifacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, where appropriate, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage”^[5]. Without access to these cultural aspects and with no means of sharing them, it was inevitable that African American women and their families would suffer heritage displacement. Therefore, Black people, including Phillis Wheatley, were not only disparaged of basic human rights, like the right to vote or to the pursuit of happiness, but they were also stripped of their own identity. This can also be seen in the manner that Wheatley was depicted in the art world during her lifetime.
  
  
  Although Wheatley is considered a prolific author in American history, little to no historical artistic documentation exists of her, however, Portrait of Phillis Wheatley by Scipio Moorhead is considered one of the most popular depictions of the famed author. Moorhead himself was an enslaved man who is considered one of the earliest significant black fine artists^[6] and who was commissioned by Wheatley for the portrait herself. In the ink drawing, Wheatley poses at a table with a contemplative gaze upwards which was popular in portraits of the time. Moorhead utilizes an artistic technique called hatching to create shading and depth within the portrait which conveys the artist’s prowess and creative ability. The caption included in the portrait is also interesting as it states “Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston.” While Phillis would have been emancipated at the time of Moorhead’s portrait^[7], this decision to include Phillis’ title as a “servant”, and not a slave, is an interesting artistic choice. While Moorhead’s portrait asserts Wheatly as a Black intellectual while also asserting his own artistic ability, his work lacks specific details relating to the subject’s individuality as the first published Black female author in America.
  
  In comparison, Esther Francis’ depiction displays a confrontational version of Wheatley with a defiant stare directed at the viewer. Francis’ description of her work states, “Former slave. Published poet. Resilient like the Fox, she would not be domesticated”^[8]. The digital painting utilizes imprecise strokes along with vibrant colors to reflect the barriers that Wheatley broke down while insuing a new age of hope that African Americans might finally be granted their basic human rights. As a mother and artist, Francis works to depict inspiring individuals in her art. Francis’ incorporation of the fox as a symbol in the piece also reflects her view of Wheatley as a clever and cunning revolutionary.
  We see these revolutionary characteristics in her poem “To Mæcenas”. Due to her extensive knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology, it is possible that Phillis considered the Roman definition of “patron” which can also mean “the former owner of a freed slave”^[9] when using the word. This along with other elements that are included in the poem lead some individuals to believe that “To Mæcenas” is “a request to receive poetic/divine inspiration from an artistic patron and also an appeal for freedom from slavery”^[10]. For this reason, Phillis Wheatley serves as a prime example of the struggle that many African American women faced before her and what many African American women still struggle with today. While her legacy as a Black female author is remarkable, her ability to speak to her African heritage, and furthermore share it with an audience, is what makes Wheatley a truly inspirational woman. 
   

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  ^[1] Marandos, Sam A. “Promoting Educational Opportunities for All - Home | ASBBS.” Proceedings of ASBBS, 2012. http://asbbs.org/files/ASBBS2012V1/PDF/M/MarandosS.pdf.
   

  ^[2] Sheridan, Stephanie. “Phillis Wheatley: Her Life, Poetry, and Legacy.” Phillis Wheatley: Her Life, Poetry, and Legacy | National Portrait Gallery. Accessed October 2, 2021. https://npg.si.edu/blog/phillis-wheatley-her-life-poetry-and-legacy.
   

  ^[3] Gordon, Milton M. “Assimilation in America: Theory and Reality.” Accessed December 2, 2021. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20026656.
   

  ^[4] Ellis, Nicole. “Lost Lineage: The Quest to Identify Black Americans' Roots.” The Washington Post. WP Company, February 25, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/02/25/lost-lineage-quest-identify-black-americans-roots/.
   

  ^[5] Géopolitique, L'Institut du Genre en. “The Role of Women in the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage.” Institut du genre en géopolitique, April 17, 2021. https://igg-geo.org/?p=3133&lang=en.
   

  ^[6] “Photo Essay - African American Artists Before the Twentieth Century.” Oxford African American Studies Center. Accessed December 1, 2021. https://oxfordaasc.com/page/photo-essay-african-american-artists-before-the-twentieth-century.
   

  ^[7] “Portrait of Phyllis Wheatley, Attributed to Scipio Moorhead, around 1773.” The abolition seminar, December 31, 2013. https://www.abolitionseminar.org/documents/image-from-the-collections-of-the-massachusetts-historical-society-2/.

  ^[8] Francis, Esther. “Phillis Wheatley - Esther Francis Artworks.” ArtPal. Accessed December 8, 2021. https://www.artpal.com/EFrancis?i=135834-7.

  ^[9] Phillis Wheatley - 'to Maecenas', http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~cpercy/courses/442semchristine1.htm.
   

  ^[10] Phillis Wheatley - 'to Maecenas', http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~cpercy/courses/442semchristine1.htm.