HISTORICAL TIMELINE

1700 - 1799 | 1800 - 1899 | 1900 - 1950 | 1951 - present

1700 - 1799

1766 - The First Woman Publisher in
North America

In 1766, Mary Katherine Goddard began publishing The Providence Gazette and released West's Almanack from her brother's printing office in Providence, Rhode Island. Years later, Benjamin Franklin appointed her to the position of Postmaster of Baltimore, Maryland.

In 1777, as editor of the Maryland Journal, she was the first to publish the "Declaration of Independence" with all signatures included.

1776 - The Declaration of Independence

Abigail Adams wrote her husband, John Adams, who was a delegate to the Continental Congress and future second President of the United States regarding the forming of a new nation:

"In the new code of laws...I desire you would remember the ladies.... If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation."

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The American Revolution

1777

In April, Colonel Henry Ludington of the New York militia received word that the British were burning the town of Danbury, Connecticut, 15 miles away. Sybil, his sixteen-year-old daughter, rode on horseback for nearly 40 miles throughout Putman County to summon her father's troops. That night, the New York militia was able to drive the British back to their ships in Long Island Sound.

In December, Philadelphia was occupied by British troops. Lydia Barrington Darragh learned of the British plan to surprise George Washington's troops eight miles away at Whitemarsh. She obtained a pass to leave the city, and reported the British army's plan to Colonel Thomas Craig, of the Continental Army. As a result, General Washington's troops were prepared for the attack, and the British were forced back to Philadelphia in defeat.

1782

Deborah Sampson, a school teacher from Plympton, Massachusetts, enlists in the 4th Massachusetts Regiment as "Robert Shurtleff." She sustained both sword and musket wounds from several skirmishes until her true identity was discovered in 1783, and she was discharged from the army.

Congress later awarded her a small pension for her service, and she published an account of her experiences, The Female Review, in 1797.

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1792 - A Vindication Of The Rights Of Women

English writer Mary Wollstonecraft (mother of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein) published what is considered the first equal rights manifesto. It called for equal education and opportunities for women, and influenced feminists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

"It would be an endless task to trace the variety of meannesses, cares, and sorrows, into which women are plunged by the prevailing opinion, that they were created rather to feel than reason, and that all the power they obtain, must be obtained by their charms and weakness."

1795 - The House of Industry

Philanthropist Anne Parrish founded the first charitable organization for women in America, The House of Industry. It provided jobs for needy women in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The following year, she founded the Aimwell School for needy girls.

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1700 - 1799 | 1800 - 1899 | 1900 - 1950 | 1951 - present