On August 22, 1762, Ann Smith Franklin became the first female editor of a newspaper in the United States. The publication was called the Newport Mercury, and Ann was the wife of James Franklin, who was Benjamin Franklin’s older brother.
Franklin’s historic assumption of the editorial bench on August 22nd was a radical milestone in the history of American journalism. Having spent her adult life mastering the intense mechanical layout of the print shop alongside her husband, she was left entirely alone to manage a struggling business following his untimely death and the tragic loss of her sons. Rather than surrendering the press to male creditors, she stepped forward as a solo publisher, transforming the Newport Mercury into one of the most widely read and commercially successful independent periodicals in British North America.
By opening her columns to local merchants, maritime shipping agents, and early political essayists, Franklin transformed her evening paper into an essential center for civic debate and commercial intelligence across Rhode Island. Her structural commitment to printing accurate foreign news dispatches and official colonial legal notices established early benchmarks for professional journalism. Her long-standing career stood as a permanent monument to female economic agency, proving that a woman could comfortably navigate the complex rules of corporate publishing decades before the revolution.
Image: A vintage 1852 panoramic print captures the colonial harbor and layout of Newport, Rhode Island via New York Public Library Digital Collections, no known restrictions
