History shouldn't forget our 'Founding Printers'

0 Comments | USA TODAY, July, 2008 | by Antonio Perez

Every fifth-grader knows that Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin were key figures in the creation of the Declaration of Independence. But does anyone know who printed the famous document?

It was John Dunlap of Philadelphia and Mary Katherine Goddard of Baltimore, who should forever be known as the "Founding Printers." Why should they be given such exalted status?

Consider the risk and reward in their actions. In a time when talking about independence, let alone printing a document about it, was considered an act of treason by England, both Dunlap and Goddard could have been hanged just for doing their jobs.

In Dunlap's case, you can imagine how the scene transpired. Whereas today we have sophisticated software that ties together...