A Senior Capstone Experience by Emmie Meeks ’26

Submitted to the Department of English

Advised by Dr. Charles

Contributor Biography: Emmie Meeks graduated from Washington College with a B.A. in English and minor in Education Studies. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Responsive Literacy Education, English Education from the University of Colorado – Denver. Emmie plans to begin her teaching career in the next two years. She also enjoys coaching youth softball and spending time with her two dachshunds, Gemma and Fiona.

Short Description: Phillis Wheatley Peters, the first person of African descent and enslaved person to publish a book in the English language, became known as a genius of her time through her elegiac poetry. From correspondence with Benjamin Franklin and the Earl of Dartmouth, she was a celebrity in literary circles across Britain and the American colonies. Her work is often reduced to beautiful elegies, the epitome of African Christian conversion, and an obedient servant. However, her work was much more nuanced than her white audience cared to admit. Through her sanctioned subversive poetics, Wheatley used the impending Revolutionary War and unique position in the “white” world as the grounds for her authoritative voice to argue and advocate for African freedom from enslavement.

Read Emmie’s SCE below: