Lucy Terry Prince

As told by Dr. Jeanne Davidson Adair
Educator NYU
Board of Trustee Historic Deerfield, Inc.

When people talk about slavery in the United States, it's usually focussed in the South and it's usually later historically, in terms of the period of time in which it is discussed. Yet Lucy Terry Prince is one of the earliest examples of blacks that were brought to the United States in servitude.

Lucy Terry Prince is a fascinating African American Woman who was brought to the Untied States via Providence Rhode Island in the early 18th century; she came to Deerfield as young child, I believe, and grew up in the Wells Thorn House. The persons who bought her were childless. She is reported to be one of the earliest African American poets on record. She wrote a poem, very much out of the Krio, which is a spoken song if you will, of an account of an historical event. It's called the Bars Fight and it chronicles a major Native American raid on Deerfield in the mid 18th century. It was published and she became well known for this poem.

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