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First Female Business Owner in the U.S.

Writer's picture: Emma HammackEmma Hammack


Mary Katherine Goddard

Emma Hammack, February 24, 2023


Mary Katherine Goddard born in 1738 lived in New London, Connecticut. In 1757 her father passed away leaving her mother, brother and her his valuable estate. Shortly after his death they moved to Providence, Rhode Island. Sarah Goddard, Mary and William’s mother, lent William money to open a print shop when he became of age.

William’s print shop was the first in Rhode Island province and he was in charge of it. However, William traveled a lot and Sarah took over while he was away. Mary then became very involved in the printing businesses, leading to Sarah and Mary becoming a mother/daughter printing and publishing team. Additionally, William moved them to Philadelphia in 1765 to open another print shop and newspaper where Sarah and Mary helped him there too. The women helped run two popular newspapers Philadelphia Chronicle and Universal Advertiser.

Sadly, Sarah Goddard passed away in 1770, leaving Mary to run the print shop and office. Her biggest accomplishment in printing was printing the first copy of the Declaration of Independence including the signer’s names. Mary is also considered one of the U.S. government's first female employees. William then opened another printing shop in Baltimore, to publish The Maryland Journal.

Although William Goddard owned the printing offices, Mary was truly the one who ran every part of the business and business was booming under her leadership and finally a year later she was officially recognized and named the publisher of the newspapers. Unfortunately, this recognition did not last long because William grew jealous of his sister’s success and in 1784 her name started to disappear from the papers and was forced to leave the business. Historians believe there was a jealousy feud among the siblings and that Mary tried to come back to printing because records show Mary filed five lawsuits against William. Lastly, Mary Katherine Goddard opened a bookstore in Baltimore in 1789, the first woman in America to do so. She spent the rest of her life running the bookstore.


Our Thoughts

I loved reading about Mary and her story but I noticed a pattern I see in many women’s history; a man hiding her accomplishments and ripping them away from her the minute she was recognized. William growing jealous of his sister’s successes running his businesses is so ironic because she helped him tremendously. It's frustrating reading stories like this because there was no way for her to claim her accomplishments through the law because women were not respected. As a woman currently studying businesses I can see how society has progressed from stories like this but I can also still see its faults. Women are still living in a man’s world, playing a game that wasn't originally designed for us to play. I can see it in group projects when I take a leadership role, I am proclaimed bossy and aggressive but if my male colleague does the same nothing is said. Mary was the beginning of women in business in America and women like me are showing how we can contribute and be successful in this environment.


Works Cited

“First Women in Business.” History of American Women, 2 Apr. 2017, https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2016/06/first-women-in-business.html.



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