Historian of the Declaration of Independence

I am a researcher, writer, speaker, and museum professional, and a leading expert on the United States’ 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.

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

  • Ph.D., History
    William & Mary
    January 2024
    Dissertation: "When the Declaration of Independence was News"

    M.A., History
    William & Mary
    May 2019

    B.A., History
    Johns Hopkins University
    December 2011

  • 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-)

    History/Civics Fellow for Our Declaration Course
    Civic Learning Institute (2024)

    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)

  • When the Declaration of Independence was News (forthcoming)

    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.

  • 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:

  • Slave Dwelling Project Conference
    Chair, Roundtable: Slavery in Pennsylvania German Households (October 2024)

    Historic Trappe
    Lecture and Preview of 2026-27 Exhibition (September 2024)

    Archives of Revolution Conference, John Carter Brown Library
    “Não possa alguem allegar ignorancia: Portugal in the Archives of Revolution” (June 2024)

    American Political History Conference
    Panelist, Roundtable: New Directions in Writing the History of the Founding Era (June 2024)

    Pennypacker Mills
    Guest Speaker, Revolutionary War Weekend (May 2024)

    Washington Memorial Heritage Leadership Forum
    “The Most Important Resolution in American History: How May 15 Set Up July 4, 1776” (May 2024)

    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: 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)

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

    SHEAR Annual Conference
    “‘Every one of us feels more Important than ever’: Remembering When Independence was Declared in New England” (July 2024)
    “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)

  • 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)

  • 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)

  • AHA (2024-)
    OIEAHC (2020-)
    SHAFR (2021-)
    SHARP (2020-)
    Independence Historical Trust (lifetime member)