John Malveaux: Phyllis Wheatley's Book of Poetry and the Julia C. Collins Novel 'The Curse of Caste' Were Early Publications by African-American Women

John Malveaux of www.MusicUNTOLD.com writes:

Recently visiting a somewhat intellectual female friend who attended MusicUNTOLD's 2011 JUNETEENTH concert featuring Mezzo Soprano Denyce Graves. Mayme Clayton Museum & Library provided an exhibit consisting of African American treasures in the lobby of the Terrace Theater before and after the concert including an autographed copy of the first known African-American woman, 1773, to publish a book: Phillis Wheatley (Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral). see http://claytonmuseum.org/. 

 

My friend shared her personal copy of the first novel ever published by a black American woman, Julia Collins in 1865: it is set in antebellum Louisiana and Connecticut, and focuses on the lives of a beautiful mixed-race mother and daughter whose opportunities for fulfillment through love and marriage are threatened by slavery and caste prejudice.... 
http://rcjamesdesign.net/African-American/collins1.html

Thanks

John Malveaux