Sneff on Mary Katherine Goddard in Essex, Connecticut, on 18 Jan.

On Sunday, 18 January, Emily Sneff will speak to the Essex (Connecticut) Historical Society and guests on “The Woman Who Printed the Declaration”—the printer, newspaper publisher, and postmaster Mary Katherine Goddard.

Born in New London, Connecticut, Goddard created the first broadsides of the Declaration of Independence to include the names of all the men who had signed the document (up to early 1777).

She had previously printed the Declaration in her newspaper, and she handled other jobs for the Continental Congress. At that time, the Congress had moved out of Philadelphia as the British army pushed south.

Sneff will contrast Goddard’s printings with publications of the Declaration from other printers, including a female printer on the other side of the Atlantic.

Emily Sneff earned her Ph.D. in History from William & Mary studying the spread of the Declaration around the world. Her book When the Declaration of Independence Was News will be published by Oxford University Press in April 2026.

This talk is scheduled to start at 3:30 P.M., with doors at Essex Meadows opening at 3. It is free and open to the public, but the society asks attendees to register for a seat in advance.