Lucy Terry Prince
Published: 7/21/2021 3:20:26 PM
Sharp-eyed readers of the July 10 Recorder article on the Lucy Terry Prince Day in Deerfield, Margaret Freeman and the Rev. Dr. Smith-Penniman, are correct. Phillis Wheatley is indeed the first published in print African American poet, not Lucy Terry.
The Recorder’s headline for the article was in error leading into the story with the words “Lucy Terry Prince Day to celebrate first published Black poet.” Staff writer DomenicPoli, who interviewed me and did further research on his own, early on in his article accurately identified Lucy Terry as “the first known African American poet in English literature…”
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Yes, there was slavery here
STAFF FILE PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Published: 2/4/2021 12:52:36 PM
In 1641, Massachusetts was the first North American colony to legalize slavery, which was at that time a common practice in New England. Africans and their descendants were enslaved by ministers and other prominent citizens in many local towns, including Greenfield, Deerfield, Northfield, Sunderland, Hatfield and Amherst.
The slave trade from capturing, buying and selling Africans to providing goods and services, such as ship-building, for those trading in human beings formed an important part of New England’s economy. The first slave ship from Massachusetts was launched in 1636, by the prestigious Winthrop family. Boston later became a hub of the trade in enslaved Africans.