Her Name Was Mary Katharine: The Only Woman Whose Name Is on the Declaration of Independence

A rousing picture book biography of the only woman whose name is printed on the Declaration of Independence.\nBorn 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.\nHere is an important biography of a groundbreaking woman who had the courage to write herself into the history she helped create.\nFrom School Library Journal\nK-Gr 3-Mary Katharine Goddard grew up in the colony of Connecticut, under British rule. After her father died, her older brother began a newspaper, but William "wasn't the best newspaper owner," and loyal Katharine spent her life running the paper he started and abandoned, printing patriotic articles against Britain's unfair treatment of the colonies. The title serves as the beginning of a refrain: "Her name was Mary Katharine and she had an important job to do." One of her important jobs was printing the Declaration of Independence, upon which she included her whole name instead of her usual initials. Detailed but static watercolor and digital illustrations look appropriately old-fashioned. With a glossary and selected sources, the back matter also includes an author's note which describes the later years of Mary Katharine's life and reveals that she had an enslaved person, whom she freed upon her death. VERDICT This brings deserved attention to an overlooked patriot, and is highly recommended.-Jenny Archα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.