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My name is Samantha Snyder. I am a historian of early American women and the Research Librarian at the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon.
My forthcoming book, Elizabeth Willing Powel: A Remarkable Woman at the Heart of the American Founding, will be published by The University of Virginia Press in March 2027
Elizabeth Willing Powel: A Remarkable Woman at the Heart of the American Founding, shows how a brilliant Philadelphia woman helped shape the early United States through conversation, correspondence, and social influence. Though she was unable to serve in a political office, yet served as a trusted political advisor. She was Philadelphia’s largest female property holder for nearly four decades; and was a major philanthropic force for education, the arts, and women’s advancement. Drawing on letters, financial records, and eyewitness accounts across major archives, this book, the first biography of Powel, will offer a fresh take on the invaluable influence of women in the founding era. The book argues that women’s power in the early republic was both political and economic, all through the eyes and actions of Elizabeth Powel.