First female to ever write poetry
Anne Dudley Bradstreet (1612-1672) was the first poet to be published in the British North American colonies. Her first poetry collection was The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up, which was originally published in 1650. It had critical acclaim in both the Old and the New World.
Her publications were made possible as she was highly educated for her time, having studied history, languages and literature. Both Anne’s father and her husband were involved in the founding of Harvard in 1636 and her sons Simon and Samuel attended the university. There is now a gate dedicated to her, The Bradstreet Gate, in recognition of her being the first published poet.
In 1650, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America was published in London by Rev John Woodbridge which made Anne the first female poet ever published not only in England but also the New World.
Anne died on September 16, 1672 in North Andover, Massachusetts at the age of 60. Historians were unable to come up with the exact place her body was buried but believe it is in the Old Burying Ground at Academy Road and Osgood Street in North Andover.
This area of the Merrimack Valley is now called the Valley of the Poets.
Female First Lucy Walton