There are many "silent female heroes" in American history. We are all familiar with the celebrated women; Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Earhart, Wilma Rudolph have been documented in history.
However, there are quite a few women
whose accomplishments are not as well known. One of these women was Mary Katherine Goddard. Born in 1738, Mary Katherine Goddard was a newspaper publisher, printer, and postmaster.
After the death of her father, Mary Katherine began working in her brother’s print shop in Rhode Island. The family moved to Philadelphia in 1768, where her brother published the Pennsylvania Chronicle. In 1773, Mary Katherine’s brother started a new printing business in Baltimore and began Baltimore’s first newspaper, the Maryland Journal. In February 1774, the Philadelphia shop closed and Mary Katherine moved to Baltimore to take over the new shop and newspaper. Even though she had been running the paper for many years, it wasn't until 1775 when the Maryland Journal officially changed the colophon to read: Published by M.K. Goddard.
During the Revolutionary War, Mary Katherine Goddard was the only printer in Maryland! The first copies of the Declaration of Independence with the names of all of the famous signers were from Mary Katherine’s press.
In 1775, Mary Katherine was only female postmaster in office when the Second Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General of the United Colonies. This made her the first female postmaster in the United Colonies. She held the office for fourteen years until October 1789 when the Postmaster General at the time, Samuel Osgood, said that the job required someone who could visit and oversee the Southern department of the postal system. He believed the job of postmaster involved more traveling than a woman could handle. Despite the loss of her position, Mary Katherine was held in such high regard, that two hundred of the leading businessmen of Baltimore endorsed her petition to the Postmaster General be reinstated.
Although the petition was denied, Mary Katherine went on to own her own her own bookshop until 1802. She died in 1816, a woman who was a champion for freedom of speech and for the rights of women.
Ron