Jupiter Hammon (17 October, 1711 – c. 1806) was a founder of African-American literature, publishing poetry and prose while working as a preacher and clerk on Long Island, NY.
Books by or about Jupiter Hammon*
Fun Facts about Jupiter Hammon:
- We don’t know much of Jupiter Hammon early life. Historian believe that his parents were Opium and Rose, who were purchased by Henry Lloyd of New York.
- Jupiter Hammon was born a slave in Lloyd Manor, now called Lloyd Harbor, NY. Mr. Hammon were was enslaved his whole life, serving the Lloyd family.
- We know Mr. Hammon was had some sort of education through a program of the Anglican Church called the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. This UK based organization which was active in all 13 colonies. In 1965, the SPG was renamed United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG) since it also worked in central Africa and India. Since 2016 the USPG stands for United Society Partners in the Gospel.
- The reasons slavers educated their slaves was because it helped them in their commercial business.
- Jupiter Hammon’s first published poem was called An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ, with Penitential Cries (1960) was published as a broadside in 1761. A broadside is a large sheet, printed on one side, announcing events, short opinion sections, ads, and more.
This made Jupiter Hammon the first published African-American poet. - It took 18 years to publish his second poem, An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley, written during the American Revolutionary War.
- Jupiter Hammon was an admirer of the first female African-American published author, Phillis Wheatley.
- Mr. Hammon published four poems and four pieces of prose, all containing religious content.
- In 2011 Julie McCown, a doctoral student at the University of Texas Arlington, discovered an unknown poem by Julius Hammon which were archived at Yale University. A second poem was found by Claire Bellerjeau in 2015.
- Jupiter Hammon’s death was not recorded and it is thought he’s buried in an unmarked grave.
Books by or about Jupiter Hammon*
Zohar – Man of la Book
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References:
Jupiter Hammon | The Poetry Foundation
About Jupiter Hammon | Academy of American Poets
Jupiter Hammon Project | Preservation Long Island
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