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In 1776 Wheatley wrote a letter and a poem
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Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

In 1776 Wheatley wrote a letter and a poem in support of Washington, George Washington,...

In 1776 Wheatley wrote a letter and a poem in support of Washington, George Washington, and he replied with a gracious invitation to visit him in Cambridge, stating he would be, "Happy to see a person so favored by the Muses." I'm very grateful to Steven Fullwood, assistant curator of Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books at the Schomburg, both for finding this material and for telling me about it

Full Transcript

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In 1776 Wheatley wrote a letter and a poem
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in support of Washington, George Washington,
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and he replied with a gracious invitation
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to visit him in Cambridge,
00:00:09.005 --> 00:00:10.916
stating he would be,
00:00:10.917 --> 00:00:15.373
"Happy to see a person so favored by the Muses."
00:00:15.374 --> 00:00:18.041
I'm very grateful to Steven Fullwood,
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assistant curator of Manuscripts, Archives,
00:00:20.025 --> 00:00:21.373
and Rare Books at the Schomburg,
00:00:21.374 --> 00:00:26.075
both for finding this material and for telling me about it.
Duration
28 seconds
Views
18
Timestamp in Movie
02:57:33
Uploaded
Oct 29, 2025
Genres
documentary
Production
Zipporah Films,JustFilms / Ford Foundation,PBS

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Movie Summary

A look within the walls of the New York Public Library.
Unless there is other business before the board, - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:09
Unless there is other business before the board,
Yes, that's, I always forget the smile part. - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:05
Yes, that's, I always forget the smile part.
Eyes wide open, smiles. - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:05
Eyes wide open, smiles.
You've talked about reparations, - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:18
You've talked about reparations,
That's... that's... Either these are explorations - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:08
That's... that's... Either these are explorations
But here, and probably surprising to many, - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:09
But here, and probably surprising to many,
And that seems to me to be an explicit response - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:09
And that seems to me to be an explicit response
Right, well, as you said, it's very much a response - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:10
Right, well, as you said, it's very much a response
And I think people who regrettably, you know, - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:16
And I think people who regrettably, you know,
Neighbor on neighbor crime that happens - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:12
Neighbor on neighbor crime that happens
That has always been true in black communities - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:05
That has always been true in black communities
People don't tend to, you know, - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:10
People don't tend to, you know,
And in that sense, the black community - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:06
And in that sense, the black community
And the fact that the black community - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:10
And the fact that the black community
It is part of what happens - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:13
It is part of what happens
The expectation that the amount of crime - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:11
The expectation that the amount of crime
I don't find it hard to explain, - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:10
I don't find it hard to explain,
You know, I'm black, I'm African American, - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:14
You know, I'm black, I'm African American,
You know, Malcolm's belief, his anger, his rage, - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:29
You know, Malcolm's belief, his anger, his rage,
I'm making my way very slowly - Ex Libris: The New York Public Library 00:08
I'm making my way very slowly