Mary Ann Shadd Cary dedicated her life to the abolition of slavery, desegregated education, and women’s rights.
Abolitionist, Educator, and Publisher | 1823-1893
Mary Ann Shadd Cary was born in Delaware to abolitionist parents. She moved to Pennsylvania at the age of 10, where she attended school and became a teacher. Active in the Underground Railroad, she and her family moved to Ontario in the 1850s after the passage of the Slave Fugitive Act. Shadd Cary became the first Black woman publisher in North America and the first woman publisher in Canada, founding and editing The Provincial Freeman in 1853. She also established a racially integrated school for Black refugees in Windsor, Canada.
Shadd Cary left a lasting legacy of abolition and education in Toronto’s fight for racial equality and social justice.
Further Resources:
- Explore Museum of Toronto’s interactive digital exhibition 1851: Spirit & Voice, a theatrical revisiting of the 1851 North American Convention of Colored Freemen – featuring Mary Ann Shadd Cary
- Read our extended article on Mary Ann Shadd Cary here
- Read about Shadd Cary in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- Learn how Shadd Cary’s impact is still felt today