Texts

This exhibit collection focuses on literary texts that have been created by or had extensive influence within early Black Bostonian communities. These texts range in genre and engage with themes of resistance, community, freedom, and autonomy. EBBDA is grateful to community partners such as the Boston Athenaeum for providing access and critical contexts for these materials. 

David Walker's Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World encourages Black people to fight against slavery and oppression and condemns white people for their cruelty and inhumanity. His appeal inspired the Black community in the efforts toward freedom and equality.

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral is Phillis Wheatley's poetry collection. This volume is famous as it is the first book published by an African-American.

Chloe Russell was the attributed author of The Complete Fortune Teller and Dream Book in an era when fortune telling and dream interpretation was popular and entertaining. These books often contained various methods, symbols, and interpretations for fortune-telling and dream analysis.

The Colored American Magazine was one of the earliest magazines in the United States that was dedicated to African-American culture, literature, and social issues. It covered a wide range of topics, including literature, poetry, art, music, history, politics, and civil rights.

An influential abolitionist newspaper that was published in Boston during the 19th century. It played a significant role in the abolitionist movement and was known for its uncompromising stance against slavery.