Lucy Terry Prince – Luce Bijah and justice (1724-1821)
This week in Brattleboro history we are going to tell you about Lucy Terry Prince, or Luce Bijah, as she called herself. She lived from 1724 to 1821. In a book called The Music of Black Americans it says Lucy Terry Prince was a significant contributor in the efforts to maintain a sense of Africa in early America. Her storytelling and singing kept alive the African traditions. She made her home a gathering place for slaves and freedmen; a place where they could listen to tales and songs of old Africa. Lucy was born in Africa. She was kidnapped, forced into slavery and shipped to Rhode Island. Around the age of four she was sold to Ebenezer Wells of Deerfield, Massachusetts and became his house slave. When she was in her early twenties, five people in Deerfield died during a raid by Abenaki Indians. Lucy became one of America’s first African American poets when she […]