Shadd, Mary A., 1823-1893 : Born free on 9 October, 1823 in Wilmington, Delaware, Mary Ann Camberton Shadd Cary was an American-Canadian activist who was instrumental in advancing the rights of Black people in Canada by helping to give them a voice through her work as an educator, abolitionist, author, suffragette, journalist, and lawyer.
The eldest of thirteen siblings, Shadd Cary was born to Abraham Doras Shadd and Harriet Parnell, who were themselves abolitionists in Delaware, a slave state at the time. Her childhood education not only consisted of formal teachings from Quakers, but was also in many ways self-taught and heavily influenced by her parents' community activism and assistance for those fleeing slavery, which inspired her to pursue a similar path in life.
In 1851, Shadd Cary's work brought her to Canada West, where she attended the North American Convention of Coloured Freemen in Toronto, Ontario following the passing of the Fugitive Slave Bill in 1850, the first time the event was held outside of the United States. Hundreds of Black community leaders from Canada, the United States, and England attended the event, all of whom encouraged the emigration of enslaved Americans and refugees from enslavement to Canada. It was at the Convention where she met fellow activists Henry and Mary Bibb, publishers of the newspaper Voice of the Fugitive, who encouraged her to take on a teaching position near Windsor, Ontario.
Following her move to Windsor, Shadd Cary gained prominence as an important figure and influential leader within several antislavery societies, and became a spokesperson for Freedom Seekers arriving in Canada from the United States. Despite the controversial move at the time, she nonetheless established a racially integrated school for Black refugees through the support of the American Missionary Association, while also publishing educational booklets informing settlers of the advantages of living in Canada, which included "A Plea for Emigration; or Notes of Canada West" (1852). In 1853, Shadd Cary was actively involved in founding the weekly newspaper The Provincial Freeman, in which she published content that advocated for equality, integration, and self-education of Black people in Canada and the United States, including the promotion of emigration to Canada. It is estimated that between 30,000 to 40,000 freedom seekers arrived in Canada through the Underground Railroad during this period. Her involvement with the newspaper is significant, as it sought to publicize the successes of the movement. In doing so, Shadd Cary became the first Black woman in North America to not only publish a newspaper, but also the first editor, and one of the first female journalists in Canada. Despite these historical and landmark achievements, she did not take any public credit for the newspaper's content or success on account of gender restraints.
Shadd Cary continued in her role as a school teacher in Chatham, Ontario during the first years of the American Civil War, but returned to the United States thereafter and by 1863, she worked as a recruitment agent for the Union Army in Indiana. Having later moved to Washington, DC Shadd Cary pursued law at Howard University, where she reached another historic milestone by becoming the second Black woman in the United States to earn a law degree in 1883. During this time, she continued to participate in both civil and equal rights movements in the United States, returning to Canada only briefly to organize a suffragist rally in 1881.
Shadd Cary married entrepreneur Thomas Fauntleroy Cary on 3 January 1856 in St. Catharines, Ontario and they had two children, both a son and a daughter. Mary Ann Shadd Cary died of cancer on 5 June 1893 in Washington, DC.
In 1994, the Government of Canada designated her as a Person of National Historic Significance in Canada.
