Clementina Rind

Clementina Rind (c. 1740–September 25, 1774) was a Colonial American woman who is known as being the first female newspaper printer and publisher in Virginia. Living and working in Williamsburg, Virginia, she took the printing press established by her husband, William Rind, after his death in 1773. Clementina continued to print The Virginia Gazette and also published Thomas Jefferson's tract A Summary View of the Rights of British America.

Early years

Little is known about Clementina's early life. She was born around 1740, possibly in Maryland. Sometime between 1762 and 1765, she married William Rind (1733-1773), a printer in Maryland who worked in partnership with Annapolis printer, Jonas Green on the Maryland Gazette. accompanied with the motto, "Open to ALL PARTIES, but Influenced by NONE." Within this newspaper, William Rind printed local publications advertisements as well as information from the Virginia House of Burgesses (laws, resolutions, proclamations, and journals), a practice Clementina Rind would later continue. As the printing press flourished, so too did their lives in Williamsburg. By 1767, they were living on the Duke of Gloucester Street, in a brick building that served as both a work space and a family residence. She managed the press out of her brick home, now the Ludwell–Paradise House in Colonial Williamsburg. Rind printed submissions from female readers, giving the newspaper a strong female point of view. In 1774, Rind was the first to print Thomas Jefferson's A Summary View of the Rights of British America.

Rind became ill in August 1774 and died the following month in Williamsburg.