Born in 1738, Mary Katharine Goddard came of age in colonial Connecticut as the burgeoning nation prepared for the American Revolution. As a businesswoman and a newspaper publisher, Goddard paved the way for influential Revolutionary media. Her remarkable accomplishments as a woman defied societal norms and set the stage for a free and open press. When the Continental Congress decreed that the Declaration of Independence be widely distributed, one person rose to the occasion and printed the document — boldly inserting her name at the bottom with a printing credit: Mary Katharine Goddard.

Here is an important biography of a groundbreaking woman who had the courage to write herself into the history she helped create.