Who printed the first version of the United States Declaration of Independence that listed its signatories?

Mary Katharine Goddard printed the first version of the United States Declaration of Independence that listed its signatories.

Congress commissioned Goddard's broadside in 1777, months after the Declaration had been adopted. Known as the Goddard Broadside, it was the first printed version to include the names of the 56 delegates who signed the engrossed document. The broadside helped state governments and the public identify the people who had committed themselves to independence.

Goddard was a publisher, bookseller, and postmaster in Baltimore. She operated the Baltimore Post Office from 1775 to 1789 and played a significant communications role during the Revolutionary period. Her work was unusual in an era when printing and public office were dominated by men.

The Goddard Broadside is different from the earlier Dunlap broadside, printed in July 1776. The Dunlap version carried the text but did not list the signers' names. This distinction makes Goddard's contribution a precise and often overlooked part of the founding history highlighted by America250.