Phillis Wheatley Across Time -- ep. by Howard Rambsy II

A brief take on Phillis Wheatley’s portrait, tracing Scipio Moorhead’s 1773 image, Kerry James Marshall’s reinterpretation, and its circulation on a 2026 U.S. Postal Service stamp.

Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm

Transcript

In 1773, an enslaved Black poet in Boston sat for a portrait drawing created by an enslaved Black artist. Nearly 250 years later, in 2022, a renowned African American artist invoked the memory of that earlier Black artist by redrawing a similar image of that poet. And in late January 2026, the U.S. Postal Service used that new image on a commemorative stamp.

You’re listening to Remarkable Receptions — a podcast about African American artistic production, the circulation of ideas, and more.

At around twenty years of age, in 1773, Phillis Wheatley sat for a portrait drawing attributed to Scipio Moorhead, an African American artist who, like Wheatley, was enslaved and living in Boston. Scholars typically say the drawing is attributed to Moorhead because, although he likely produced the image, definitive proof does not exist. The image remains the only surviving artwork associated with Moorhead.

As the frontispiece for Wheatley’s 1773 volume of poems entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, a print was produced in London based on the image attributed to Moorhead. The frontispiece includes the words, “Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston.” Wheatley’s volume also includes a poem entitled “To S. M. A Young African Painter, On Seeing His Works,” which serves as a tribute to Moorhead.

In 2022, Kerry James Marshall produced an image of Wheatley that channeled the earlier portrait attributed to Moorhead. The original image shows Wheatley seated at a table, appearing contemplative as she writes or reflects. Marshall imagines an older Wheatley in his rendition. In the earlier image, Wheatley turns to the side in profile, but in Marshall’s version, the subject faces forward, looking directly at her audience.

The words on Marshall’s image read, “Phillis Wheatley-Peters (1753–1784), African Poet in America.”

“Peters” refers to Wheatley’s married name. Some modern scholars refer to her as Phillis Peters; others use Phillis Wheatley-Peters; and still others choose to continuing using the more commonly recognized name, Phillis Wheatley.

On January 29, 2026, the U.S. Postal Service, as the forty-ninth installment in its Black Heritage series, released a Phillis Wheatley stamp derived from Marshall’s image.

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This episode was written by Howard Rambsy, edited by Elizabeth Cali, and read by me, Kassandra Timm.

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