“She was the first Black woman to sell over a million copies of a book,” said José B. Gonzalez, a poet and English professor at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, in his description of the distinguished yet little-known writer Ann Petry in a refrain.

Gonzalez was part of a panel discussion Saturday at the Waterford Public Library about why people should know about the African-American author who had lived much of her life in Old Saybrook. He said most have never heard of her.

Gonzalez told the audience of more than 100 people that he didn’t learn of the author, who he called “undeniably brilliant,” when he was a student in the New London school system. He didn’t hear about her as an undergraduate at Bryant University. It wasn’t until he pursued his master’s degree at Brown University in teaching English that he found out Petry had resided just 20 minutes from where he’d grown up.

“I mean, she was the first Black woman to sell over a million copies of a book,” he said, his cadence carrying disbelief that he didn’t know.

The book to make history by selling so many copies was the 1946 novel called “The Street.” It chronicles Lutie Johnson, a single mother in the 1940s who moves from Connecticut to Harlem determined to find a place for herself and her son in the American Dream. But her determination and self-confidence are battered at every turn by the predators of the street and the racism and sexism of the times.

She wrote that book – her first – while she was living in Harlem with her husband George Petry. Though trained as a pharmacist in the family tradition, she started reporting for various newspapers and writing short stories that reflected her first experiences with poverty and segregation. She took a writing course at Columbia University and committed herself to social issues through the NAACP and programs for low-income school children.

She went on to write more novels and short stories for adults as well as fiction and nonfiction for young readers.

She died in 1997 at the age of 88 in Old Saybrook.

Since he learned about Petry, Gonzalez taught her work alongside renowned Connecticut writers Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain and Eugene O’Neill.

He said if Petry had gotten the same treatment from scholars and the media as those authors, people would be more likely to know her name.“

“I mean, she was the first African-American female to sell a million books,” he repeated.

Lonnie Braxton, a retired state prosecutor from New London and a local historian, said his research about Petry left him in awe: “Because I wonder, how did she do so much in her lifetime and we get to this place and we don’t know anything about her?”

Born in 1908, Petry grew up in Old Saybrook as the daughter of a pharmacist and chiropodist. Petry later said in interviews that her parents were emphatic in the belief that she and her sister should follow their dreams regardless of gender or racial barriers.

Petry earned a pharmacology degree from the University of Connecticut and worked in the family drugstore before moving to Harlem with her husband.

The couple’s daughter, Liz Petry, of Middletown, is the author of the book "At Home Inside: A Daughter's Tribute to Ann Petry," which was published in 2009 by the University Press of Mississippi.

Braxton, who was raised in Mississippi before joining the U.S. Navy, said he was a young man in the late 1960s when learned about the drugstore owned by Petry’s family from a coworker at Electric Boat.

“For a Black person growing up in Mississippi, I thought it was phenomenal that they had achieved such a great feat,” he said.

He said his research revealed many unexplored areas about the writer, her connection to New London and her connection to other notable Black families in the area.

Connecticut College English Professor Kate Rushin highlighted Petry’s books for children. She pointed to the middle-grade biography "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad," which was named an American Library Association Notable Book and a New York Times Outstanding Book.

“I think it's especially important that we read about African-American history during this time where a government official can declare that college board AP course on African-American history is of no educational value,” she said. “So we have to do our own research and encourage others to read about African American history.”

The Associated Press reported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration in January blocked a new Advanced Placement course on African-American studies from being taught in high schools, saying it violates state law and is historically inaccurate.

Eastern Connecticut State University senior Grace Carlos, of Montville, is the vice president of the Young Democrats of New London County and a member of the Montville Board of Education.

She said she hadn’t heard about Ann Petry until she saw promotions for the panel discussion hosted by Waterford RISE, which stands for Residents for Inclusion and Social Equity. She brought her younger brother and sister so that they could learn about the writer earlier than she did.

“I think what we’re seeing now – not even just here, but all over – is that Black history is not really included as American history,” she said. “And I think events like this open up the door for our stories to be told and our experiences to be heard about. Not even just in school, but in our communities and everywhere.”

e.regan@theday.com

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with Grace Carlos’s membership on the Board of Education.