Who printed the first broadside of the United States Declaration of Independence to list its signers?

Mary Katharine Goddard printed the first broadside of the United States Declaration of Independence to list its signers.

Goddard was a printer, publisher, postmaster, and bookseller who operated in Baltimore. In January 1777, the Continental Congress ordered an authenticated copy of the Declaration to be sent to each of the 13 states. Goddard printed that version, now known as the Goddard Broadside.

Unlike the earlier Dunlap broadside, which listed only the printed names of Congress president John Hancock and secretary Charles Thomson, the Goddard Broadside included the names of the Declaration’s signers. It therefore gave the public a fuller record of who had committed themselves to independence.

Goddard’s full name appeared on the broadside as printer, an unusual and important acknowledgment for a woman working in the male-dominated printing trade. Her contribution adds a lesser-known publishing chapter to the founding history highlighted by America250.