Historical Soceity of Delaware - Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Suffragist

Photo courtesy of the
National Archives of Canada

Born to a free African-American family in Wilmington, Mary Ann Shadd learned early about fighting for one's rights, for her father was an abolitionist and conductor on the Underground Railroad. The family moved to West Chester so that the children could receive an education. After she finished school, Mary Ann Shadd returned to Wilmington to teach in a school for black children.

After several years of teaching in Wilmington and other cities, Miss Shadd moved to Windsor, Ontario, Canada, in the early 1850s. Here she continued to teach. In 1854, she was the guiding force and sometime editor of the Provincial Freeman, an African-American newspaper. She was the first female African-American newspaper editor in North America. The Provincial Freeman was published until 1859. During her years in Canada she married Thomas Cary.

After the Civil War, Mrs. Cary moved to Washington, D.C., where she taught school. SHe also attended law school at Howard University, receiving her degree in 1883.

Mary Ann Shadd Cary always fought for her rights and those of others. She believed in woman's equality and spoke at the convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1878.