Elizabeth Timothy (''
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
'' Villin born 30 June 1702 – died 2 April 1757)
was the first female newspaper publisher in America.
Early life
Born as Elizabeth Villin on 30 June 1702, in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, she married Lewis Timothy,
a Hugenot in 1724.
Eventually, both of them immigrated to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
in 1731, with their four children at that time.
Career
In Philadelphia, Lewis worked with
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
, who trained him in the printing business. In 1733, Franklin sent Lewis to Charleston, South Carolina, to revive the
South Carolina Gazette, the colony’s first successful newspaper.
However, when Lewis suddenly passed away in 1738 and the oldest child, Peter, was too young and inexperience at that time, Elizabeth decided to take over the management of the newspaper. This made her the first female editor and publisher in American history. She published her first issue on 4 January 1739, with her eldest son listed as the publisher, as a woman was not allowed to have such job. However, the issue also announced that Timothy was running the newspaper.
She continued running the newspaper, publishing news, poetry and literary classics until her son, Peter, now aged 21 years old, took over his mother's role as the publisher and editor in 1746. After her job, Timothy opened a bookstore for a year before leaving Charleston for nine years. Later, she returned to Charleston and passed away on April 2, 1757. She was buried in
St. Philip's Church.
References
Bibliography
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18th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
1757 deaths
Year of birth unknown
18th-century American journalists
18th-century American women journalists
18th-century American businesswomen
Dutch emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies
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