MARY ANN SHADD CARY: Abolitionist, lawyer, teacher, publisher

Mary Ann Shadd was born a free woman of African American ancestry on October 9, 1823. She was the oldest of thirteen children. While still a child, Mary came to realize that her father’s shoemaking shop was a stop for fugitive slaves traveling the Underground Railway. These slaves, who were fleeing for their lives from slave owners and bounty hunters, were often hidden in a portion of the shop.

At the time, the education of blacks was strictly forbidden in Delaware. Because they wanted Mary to have the best opportunities possible, her parents took her to Pennsylvania at the age of 10 and placed her in a Quaker boarding school.

In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. This Act allowed free northern blacks and escaped southern slaves to be rounded up and sold into slavery. Canada became a refuge for blacks that wished to take advantage of their newly found freedom. Because of the Act, Mary and her brother, Isaac, fled to Canada in 1851. Their father followed, bringing the entire family. The Shadds were known to their white neighbors as a “fine family of color.”

During this period slave owners did all they could to prevent slaves from crossing the border into Canada. Mary wrote a pamphlet called, “Notes on Canada.” It consisted of forty-four pages and listed opportunities available to blacks north of the 49th Parallel.

After arriving in Canada, Mary earned her teacher’s certificate and took a teaching position. She became one of the foremost figures in the abolitionist movement.

Mary felt the time had come for her people to accept integration, though both blacks and whites were secure with the segregated and equal communities. Mary wasn’t to be stopped! She opened a private school for people of all races. It was her belief that every individual, regardless of ancestry, had equal potential and should be given the opportunity to obtain an education. She believed that opportunity could only be obtained by hard work and independence.

To Mary, integration meant being self-reliant and learning to live and work in harmony with people of other races. She realized that both blacks and whites had much to learn about the other’s cultural roots if segregation was to be successful.

The blacks that fled to Canada felt they would be safe because it was a British Colony. Unfortunately, there was prejudice and discrimination in Canada at the time. As Mary had feared, the Canadian government segregated blacks into communities on the edge of cities. Blacks who had safely crossed the border tended to stick together. They settled in small, segregated communities where they felt they could look to each other for help and protection from white communities.

The opening of Mary’s school in Windsor was strongly opposed by Henry Bibb, an established black leader of the day. He openly attacked Mary and her school in his newspaper, “Voice of the Fugitive.” In retaliation, Mary founded her own weekly newspaper, “The Provincial Freeman.” The newspaper was aimed at the black community and especially fugitive slaves.

“The Provincial Freeman” became very popular. Mary traveled to the United States to gather information for her editorials. She felt it was necessary to keep blacks still living in the United States informed of what was happening in Canada. Anti-abolitionists had circulated rumors that Canada’s black community was starving in order to discourage more African Americans from crossing the border. Mary’s other goal was to allow white communities to become aware of noble deeds of the colored American.

Mary was a very outspoken person and soon began to make public appearances. She became known for her quick wit and was given the nickname “The Rebel,” for her abolitionist views.

With the founding of “The Provincial Freeman,” Mary became the first black woman to establish and edit a newspaper in North America. She believed that segregated communities, schools, churches and newspapers would greatly affect the freedom of her people. She used the “Freeman” to oppose segregation of any form.

In 1853, Mary met and married Thomas Cary of Toronto, Ontario. They had two children, though Thomas died before the second was born. Mary supported herself and her children by writing articles for newspapers and by providing printing services to the City of Chatham.

When President Lincoln called for recruitment of blacks to fight for the Union Army during the Civil War, Mary returned to the United States. On August 15, 1863, she was appointed as a recruiting officer. Her job was to enlist black volunteers from the State of Indiana.

After the Civil War Mary moved to Washington D.C. where she enrolled at Howard University. She specialized in law and graduated as a lawyer. She hung out her shingle at age 60. Mary was the second black woman to earn a law degree in the United States.

Mary left behind a great legacy in writing, publishing, education and law. She followed her dream to integrate black and white communities. Though her dream was never realized in her lifetime, Mary’s efforts and hard work encouraged other blacks to fight for integration and to follow their dreams. Her motto: “Self reliance is the fine road to independence.”

Mary Ann Shad died on June 5, 1893. She is best remembered for her contribution in the black woman’s movement and the movement for emancipation.

Quotes: “You have a right to your freedom and to every other privilege connected with it and if you cannot secure these in Virginia or Alabama, by all means make your escape without delay to some other locality in God’s wide universe.” Mary Ann Shadd Cary

"Canada is not merely a neighbor of Negroes. Deep in our history of struggle for freedom Canada was the North Star." Martin Luther King Jr., The Massey Lectures 1967

Resources:

Books:

The Freedom Seekers: Blacks in Early Canada by Daniel G. Hill

Shadd: The Life and Times of Mary Shadd Cary by Jim Bearden and Linda Jean Butler

A Place Called Heaven, The Meaning of Being Black in Canada by Cecil Foster

Leisure Reading:

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Black Bonnet by Louella Bryant

Internet Links:

The Fugitive Slave Act http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1850f...

Taking The Train To Freedom http://www.nps.gov/undergroundrr/content...

Women of the Underground Railroad http://www.ugrr.org/learn/heroines.htm

For a great article on Slavery and New Hampshire, visit Tina Coruth's topic. http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_...