The Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello
and the University of Virginia Library
are pleased to present the
Thomas Jefferson Foundation Lecture


Black Poets and the Patriots who Mocked them in Jefferson's America:
A Story about Literature, History, and Politics

by David Waldstreicher (College '88)
Distinguished Professor of History, City University of New York - Graduate Center
Author of The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet's Journey Through American Slavery and Independence

4:00pm Lecture | 5:00pm Reception

REGISTER HERE

Phillis Wheatley is well known as the mother of African American literature. But there were other accomplished Black poets in Jefferson’s Atlantic world, from Jamaica to Boston, who, like Wheatley, were both appreciated and mocked. Waldstreicher's talk will compare several of them, including especially Francis Williams, to Wheatley, examining their poems and some politicians’ responses to them, including that of Jefferson, and what it tells us about relationships between literature, politics, and history in the eighteenth century.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation Distinguished Lecture Series is a collaborative effort between the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, the University of Virginia Library, and the Corcoran Department of History at the University. The lecture was established to bring to the University eminent scholars whose research will provide fresh insights into topics related to Jefferson. The UVA Library is proud to be a sponsor of this event, continuing its mission of connecting people with resources and ideas as the center of the University's unique educational community.


For more information, contact Holly Thornhill (Senior Associate Director for Donor Relations, UVA Library) at library_events@virginia.edu.