Texts

This exhibit collection focuses on literary texts that have widely shaped and influenced early Black Boston. Included are Phillis Wheatley Peter’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, Chloe Russel’s The Complete Fortune-Teller & Dream Book, David Walker’s Appeal, The Colored American Magazine, and the Liberator. These texts range in genre, but all draw on themes of resistance, community, freedom, autonomy, and Blackness. This collection provides open access to the texts via our community partners, amongst providing context for these materials. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather a starting point for looking at how literature is a vehicle for social change. 

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.