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By the way, I found out about her from reading George Washington's biography. She wrote the poem below for him, after which he invited her to his official residence, met her as an equal and entertained her.

"Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side,

Thy ev'ry action let the Goddess guide.

A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine,

With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! Be thine."

(Full poem can be found here) https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/his-excellency-general-washi...

According to the biography's author, it showed Washington's capacity for growth. Previously he had been an avowed racist!

I wrote my first term paper (26 years ago) on Phyllis Wheatley.

Pretty cool to see her brought up on HN.

Not that this isn't an interesting historical figure - whats the relevance to HN?

If HN'ers up vote it, they must either think it's relevant, or else don't care if it isn't relevant. If they don't up vote, then it doesn't really matter.

Phillis Wheatley