As we head into the July 4th weekend, many of you are undoubtedly aware that this year marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Something that’s not widely known is that the first printed version to make the signers’ names public was printed by a woman, Mary Katharine Goddard.
When the Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776, the identities of the signers were kept secret. Naming them publicly would have exposed them to charges of treason against the British Crown, a crime punishable by death. By January 18, 1777, with the Continental Congress evacuated to Baltimore, Congress ordered an authenticated copy of the Declaration printed with the signers’ names attached and distributed to each state for the public record.
The job went to Goddard, a Baltimore printer, bookseller, and newspaper editor who also served as the city’s postmaster. Along with the signers, she placed her full name on the broadside, openly identifying herself as the printer, at the risk of her life and her livelihood. Goddard’s appointment as Baltimore’s postmaster in 1775 made her the first woman postmaster in the colonies, and eventually in the United States. She held the position until 1789, when the newly appointed Postmaster General removed her, reportedly because the job required more travel than a woman could handle. Goddard appealed directly to President Washington and later petitioned the U.S. Senate with the backing of over 200 Baltimore citizens, but neither effort succeeded.
The Goddard Broadside remains the only official edition of the Declaration of Independence printed by a woman. The Library of Congress has digitized its copy, which is worth a look both for the text and for the four columns of signer names that made it historically significant.
During a break from the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting in Boston in 2023, I had the chance to see a reproduction of the Goddard Broadside printed at the Printing Office of Edes & Gill, using the same methods Goddard used in 1777, with each letter individually set by hand and pressed onto paper using an 18th-century wooden Common Press. If you’re in Boston, I highly recommend a visit. It’s right along the Freedom Trail behind the Old North Church. Watching that kind of hand-press printing in person is a memorable way to experience this piece of history, especially with the Declaration’s 250th anniversary this year.