Mary Shadd, the eldest of thirteen children was born in October of 1823 in Willmington, Delaware... the daughter of Abraham and Harriett Shadd who were free blacks. Her parents were also "stationmasters" of the Underground Railroad... the path that led escaped slaves to freedom in the North.

Abraham and Harriett were also strong believers in education, and with this in mind, moved to West Chester, Pennsylvania, so their children could be education at a Quaker-run school there.

When she finished her education in Pennsylvania, Mary moved back to Willmington to open her own school for black children.

Her work there was interrupted, however, with the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 which allowed slave hunters to pursue escaped slaves into the North to "bring them back" to their old masters. Of course, it wasn't long before freed blacks were being kidnapped and sent South under the false pretense that they were "escapees".

Mary and her brother, Isaac, moved to Canada West (present day Ontario) where slavery had been completely abolished for many years and settled in Windsor where Mary set up a school... not strictly for black children, but as an advocate of integration rather than segregation, for all children regardless of race. Sadly, many of the black activists in Canada at the time did believe that settling in their own communities and being kept segregated was a better way to live life... Mary did not subscribe to this believing that all people were equal and capable of doing whatever they could based on their worth, not on their race.

This put her at loggerheads with the powerful American Missionary Association run by Henry Bibb, an established leader in the black community in Canada. Initially, Bibb's group funded Shadd's school... but when she publicly defied him and his segregated views (refusing to teach in a "black only" school), she lost her funding and was forced to do what she could to make ends meet and keep her school alive.

For this, she opened a newspaper... "The Provincial Freeman" to counter Bibb's paper, "The Voice of the Fugitive" (with which he was now attacking Shadd's ideas and character) and hopefully earn the money she needed to keep her school alive.

"The Provincial Freeman" promoted temperance, moral reform, civil rights, and black self-help while attacking the racial discrimination blacks faced within North America. It was one of the longest published black newspapers until the Civil War.

Oddly enough, Shadd became the first female newspaper editor in North America... although initially she didn't take credit.

At the time, a "woman's place" was not in charge of a paper, so she used the name of Presbyterian minister in Toronto, Samuel Ward, as it's editor... Needless to say, Ward was not really involved... it was Shadd... but since she was already fighting the fight against segregationism and the usual issues of race in European settled lands, she decided that, initially, using a man's name was more prudent and would assist the paper in launching properly.

Shadd became a popular speaker... touring Canada and the Northern U.S. to put out the word against slavery, for black integration into society, and to raise money for her paper... all the time decrying people like Bibb's who still asked for handouts to help "refugees"... Shadd felt this was turning popular opinion her people into beggers that could not support themselves... she disagreed with this on many levels... one of which was the Bibb's seemed to be getting richer and richer for his efforts with little of these "donations" getting back into the community.

Evetually, Mary moved the paper to Toronto where the black population was much larger. She also changed the masthead to show it was edited by M.A. Shadd... which, when it was discovered this was a woman, caused a stir... and she found herself on the defensive over her gender.

With reluctance, she appointed Rev. William Newman as editor (again, really a "token" editor) so she could continue her efforts with her speaking tours.

Although this moved "calmed the waters", everybody still realised that this was Mary's paper.

In 1855, Mary moved her paper to Chatham (Ontario) which had an even larger black population than Toronto... hoping to increase ad revenues and readership. In Chatham, Shadd rescued a young escaped slave running from slave catchers working illegally in Canada...

"Come with me, I'll save you!" Mary whispered to the frightened child. The boy looked up at her and nodded. Mary grabbed his hand and together they raced along the dusty street. Behind them, the two slave catchers bellowed in surprise and then took up the chase.

Out of breath, Mary slowed down in front of a large building. "We'll get help in the court house," Mary gasped as they staggered up it's steps. Once inside the building, Mary violently rang it's huge bell. As the bell rang out it's alarm, the townspeople of Chatham quickly gathered at the court house.

Mary pointed at the two men that chased her. "They are slave catchers," she shouted with contempt, "and they are trying to drag a child back to the United States to be a slave!"

The angry murmur from the crowd rose to a roar, Someone screamed "Grab them!" and the crowd rushed forward.

The slave catchers turned and ran for their lives.

While lecturing in Philadelphia, she so dazzled her audience with her speaking a debating skills that they a benefit in the city to honour her years of work and achievement for the rights and building of the culture of blacks in North America.

In 1856, Mary Shadd married Thomas Cary, a hard working member of the black community in Toronto and within five days of her marriage, was back speaking and touring to raise funds for the paper.

Hard times in 1857 (a general economic depression) stopped the paper publishing... and in 1861, Thomas passed away leaving Mary and two children.

With the ending of the American Civil War in 1865, Mary saw the huge task ahead with freed blacks in the States. She returned to America where she taught school for many years and at the age of sixty, was called to the bar and became a lawyer... only the second black woman to do so in her time.

Although the vote was given to black men in 1865, women were still not given the vote and Mary put her considerable talents and skills into the American Women's Rights Movement.

Mary joined the National Woman's Suffrage Association working with people such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton towards women's suffrage, even testifying before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives and becoming the first black woman to cast a vote in a national election.

Mary Shadd Cary passed away at age seventy... feted as one of the great women of her time and a hard worker towards universal suffrage and integration of society.

Frederick Douglass said once of Mary, "With voice and pen she is equally eloquent."

Sources:
"Her Story - Women from Canada's Past" by Susan E. Merritt
Afro-American Almanac Biographies
Living Vignettes of Women from the Past
Library and Archives Canada