Historian of the Declaration of Independence

I received my Ph.D. and M.A. in History from William & Mary, and my B.A. in History from Johns Hopkins University. I defended my doctoral dissertation, “When the Declaration of Independence was News,” in September 2023. My research has received generous support from the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.

Before graduate school, I was the Research Manager of the Declaration Resources Project at Harvard University. I have contributed to museum exhibitions, theatrical productions, and civic engagement projects. I am currently a consulting curator for exhibitions planned for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration in 2026 at the Museum of the American Revolution and the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA and Historic Trappe in Trappe, PA.

Curriculum vitae

Education

Ph.D., History
William & Mary
January 2024
Dissertation: “When the Declaration of Independence was News”
Committee: Karin Wulf (advisor), Joshua Piker, Nicholas Popper, Zara Anishanslin (outside reader)

M.A., History
William & Mary
May 2019

B.A., History
Johns Hopkins University
December 2011

Current Projects

Museum of the American Revolution
Guest Curator and Historian for The Declaration’s Journey (2022-)

Historic Trappe
Consulting Curator (2024-)

American Philosophical Society Library & Museum
Consulting Curator (2024-)

Adams Presidential Center
Content Consultant (2023-)

Public-Facing History Experience

American Public Television
Participant, We Hold These Truths: The Global Quest for Liberty (2023)

1776, American Repertory Theater
Research Consultant (2020)

OIEAHC
Digital Apprentice for Ben Franklin’s World Podcast (2018-2019)

Declaration Resources Project, Harvard University
Research Manager (2015-2018)

Institute for Advanced Study
Research Consultant to Danielle Allen (2014-2015)

American Philosophical Society Library & Museum
Research Associate (2013-2014)

Publications

Danielle Allen and Emily Sneff, “Golden Letters: James Wilson, the Declaration of Independence, and the Sussex Declaration,” Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy 17, no. 1 (Winter 2019): 193-230.

Danielle Allen and Emily Sneff, “The Sussex Declaration: Dating the Parchment Manuscript of the Declaration of Independence Held at the West Sussex Record Office (Chichester, UK),” The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 112, no. 3 (August 2018): 357-403.

Blog Posts & Book Reviews

Contingent Magazine
“Snatches of Uncertain Information” (Review of Jordan E. Taylor, Misinformation Nation: Foreign News and the Politics of Truth in Revolutionary America) (March 2023)

Age of Revolutions
“Spooked Horse or Spooked President? John Gilpin, James Madison, and ‘The Bladensburg Races’” (June 2021)
“Convulsions Within: When Printing the Declaration of Independence Turns Partisan” (July 2018)

Uncommon Sense Blog
“The Sounds of Independence” (July 2019)

Georgian Papers Programme Blog
“The Curious World of Benjamin Franklin: Hans Sloane, the British Museum, and an Asbestos Purse” (February 2019)

The Junto Blog
“Roundtable: Telling the Story of the Declaration” (June 2017)

Highlights from Course of Human Events, the Declaration Resources Project Blog:

Presentations & Workshops

State Society of the Cincinnati of Pennsylvania
Guest Speaker, Washington’s Birthday Luncheon (February 2024)

WHYY/McNeil Center for Early American Studies
Panelist, We Hold These Truths: We Hold These Truths: A WHYY Community Screening and Discussion (January 2024)

Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides
Panelist, Deep Dive into the Declaration of Independence (November 2023)
“1776: The Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia and Around the World” (July 2023)

Institute for Thomas Paine Studies, Communication and Power in Early America Symposium
“War, Independence, and 75,000 Men: The Declaration of Independence in European Newspapers” (October 2023)

SHEAR Annual Conference
“Contrary Winds: The Two Declarations of July 1776” (July 2023)
“‘Declaration of War by the Provincials’: News of American Independence in London, August 1776,” presented by proxy (July 2022)

David Center for the American Revolution Seminar
“‘In the Eye of Enmity’: Censoring and Celebrating the Declaration of Independence in London” (April 2023)

McNeil Center for Early American Studies Brown Bag Session
“Postponed: How Three Weeks Changed the Declaration of Independence” (February 2023)

West Sussex Record Office, Transatlantic Ties Symposium
“‘An Unalienable Right of Talking Nonsense’: The Declaration of Independence in Britain in 1776,” keynote speaker (June 2022)

SHARP Annual Conference
“Submitted to a Candid World,” dissertation roundtable (July 2021)

APHA and CHAViC Conference
“The Substance and Style of the First Printings of the Declaration of Independence” (October 2017)

National Archives and Records Administration
“Welcoming the Sussex Declaration to the Charters of Freedom,” with Danielle Allen (July 2017)

Independence Historical Trust
“The Sussex Declaration,” with Danielle Allen (July 2017)

OIEAHC Annual Conference
“The Sussex Declaration,” with Danielle Allen (June 2017)

History Camp Boston
“The Declaration of Independence: Which Version is This, and Why Does it Matter?” (March 2017)

Fellowships & Awards

McNeil Center for Early American Studies
Cincinnati Barra Dissertation Fellow (2022-2023)

John Carter Brown Library
Fellowship (2022)

OIEAHC
Lapidus-OI Fellowship for Graduate Research in Early American Print Culture (2022)

SHAFR
Samuel Flagg Bemis Dissertation Research Grant (2022)

William & Mary Graduate Studies Advisory Board
Humanities Research Fund Award (2022)

Harrison Ruffin Tyler Department of History, William & Mary
John E. Selby Teaching Fellowship (2021-2022)
Judith Ewell Award in Comparative and Transnational History (2020-2021)

Teaching

Harrison Ruffin Tyler Department of History, William & Mary
Teaching Fellow (Instructor of Record), HIST 211 Early American News (Fall 2021)
Teaching Assistant, HIST 192 Global History Since 1500 (Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021)

Pre-College Program in American History, NIAHD
Instructor, Founders and Foundings (Summer 2021)

Professional Organization Memberships

OIEAHC (2020-)
SHAFR (2021-)
SHARP (2020-)
Independence Historical Trust (lifetime member)