Anna Catherine Maulin was born in Germany but immigrated to the United States in 1710 after trying to escape from religious prosecution. She came at the age of 13 but unfortunately, her father died on the trip. On September 11, 1723 she married John Zenger and he started his own business in 1726. They had five children and worked together in the print shop. Zenger started to focus on the political and religious sectors that were written in Dutch. Since New York was a colony controlled by the British monarchy and since Zenger was publishing many articles involving the protest of policies, he was ultimately responsible for the content. In 1733 he was appointed as publisher of The New York Weekly Journal, which was a political paper that began with lawyers, merchants, and other citizens who were against Governor Cosby. After some time, the New York Council decided to punish Zenger by ordering copies of the newspaper to be burned. On November 17, 1734 he was arrested and charged with multiple counts of “seditious libel” for criticizing the British governor. However, this was an attempt to stop the Journal’s publication by keeping Zenger in jail. Nevertheless, their attempt was useless since Anna Zenger kept the paper going for nine months. Becoming possibly the first female newspaper publisher in the United States. Her publications allowed her to build public support for John Zenger’s cause and in 1735, the jury returned a not guilty verdict for her husband. The Zenger trial is a landmark case which established the right of a free press to tell the truth and was the “first case of jury nullification.” Although her contribution to establish a free press is ignored her husband often highlights her importance.

click here