Ann Plato was a pioneering 19th-century African-American author and educator from Hartford, Connecticut. She is best known for her 1841 book, 'Essays; Including Biographies and Miscellaneous Pieces, in Prose and Poetry,' a collection of works on morality, religion, and education. This publication made her the second African-American woman to publish a book of essays in the United States. Despite her literary achievement, much of Plato's personal life, including the exact dates of her birth and death, remains largely unknown to historians.