A Woman to Know: Phillis Wheatley

Enlarge the close, contracted mind, and fill it with thy fire. — Phillis

(image via Library of Congress)

In 1761, Phillis was kidnapped from West Africa and sold into slavery at just 8 years old, delivered to the Wheatley household in Boston. The Wheatleys taught Phillis to read and write, and introduced her to the work of John Milton, Alexander Pope and…