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Ann Plato

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	Topics Ann Plato Topic Home Ann Plato was a nineteenth century mixed race educator and authorAuthor An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article, or the like, whether short or long, fict... . She was the second woman of color to publish a book in America and the first to publish a book of essays and poems. Early years Plato was born during 1820 in Hartford, ConnecticutConnecticut Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the United States, located in the northeastern part of the country.... . Like many people of color who lived in America during the 1800s, there exists very little information about her. Most of what is known about her comes from the introduction of her book, written by Reverend W.C. Pennington, pastor of the Colored Congregational Church of Hartford, who called her "Platoess". Plato had a Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States American Indian and Alaskan NativesU.S.... father. Teacher and writer She was employed as a school teacher/misteress at the Black Zion Methodist Church School of Hartford. She was a member of the Talcott Street Congregational Church in Hartford. In 1841, she published her only known book, entitled Essays: Including Biographies and Miscellanoeus Pieces in Prose and Poetry. The essays reflected the New EnglandNew England New England is a region of the United States located in the northeastern corner of the country.... PuritanPuritan The Puritans were originally members of a group of English Protestants seeking "purity" — further reforms from the est... values of her environment. Topics included "Benevolence," "Education," "Employment" and "Religion." The essays stressed both the importance of education and of leading a pious, industrious life. The book also contained some poetry and biographies of departed female friends and acquaintances. Some critics from later generations found Plato's essays and poetry to be overly moralizing as well as routine and lacking in originality. Many of them also derided her for not mentioning the issue of slaverySlavery Slavery is the social and legal designation of specific persons as property or chattel, for the purpose of providing labor a... in America, as some of her near contemporaries like Frances HarperFrances Harper Summary Frances Ellen Watkins Harper born to free parents in Baltimore, Maryland, was an African American abolitionist and poet.... and Charlotte Forten GrimkeCharlotte Forten Grimké Charlotte L. Bridges Forten Grimk? was an African-American anti-slavery activist, poet, and educator. ... did. Her one reference to slavery in her book concerns its abolitionAbolition Abolition is the act of formally repealing an existing practice through legal means, either by making it illegal, or simply ... in the West Indies in 1838 (perhaps a reference to the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 valid throughout the British EmpireBritish Empire The British Empire was the most extensive empire in world history and for a substantial time was not only a major power but ... ). Nothing is known about Plato's life after her book was published in 1841. Furthermore, the year of her death cannot be found. Legacy In 1988, Oxford University PressOxford University Press Oxford University Press is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England.... released The Schomburg Library of Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers with Professor Henry Louis Gates as the general editor of the series. Plato's book was reprinted as a part of this collection. Trinity CollegeTrinity College (Connecticut) Summary name = Trinity College\|image = \|motto =... , ConnecticutConnecticut Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the United States, located in the northeastern part of the country.... , established the Ann Plato Fellowship in her honor. Quote "A good education is that which prepares us for our future sphere of action and makes us contented with that situation in life in which God, in his infinite mercy, has seen fit to place us, to be perfectly resigned to our lot in life, whatever it may be." -Ann Plato A good education is a nother name for happiness" -Ann Plato Further reading Plato, Ann. Essays: Including Biographies and Miscellanoeus Pieces in Prose and Poetry. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-19-505247-1 Robinson, William H., editor. Early Black American Poets, Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown Publishers, 1969. ISBN 0-697-03953-6 Sherman, Joan R. Invisible Poets: Afro-Americans of the Nineteenth Century, Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1974. ISBN 0-252-06061-X External links