Cary, Mary Ann Shadd (1823-1893), was an American teacher and journalist known for helping fugitive slaves living in Canada. She was the first black woman in North America to establish and edit a weekly newspaper. In 1853, she helped found the Provincial Freeman, a weekly paper in Windsor, Ontario, for blacks in Canada.
Mary Ann Shadd was born to free parents on Oct. 9, 1823, in Wilmington, Delaware. From 1839 to 1851, she taught in and established schools for blacks in Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania. She moved to Windsor in 1851. She worked to help slaves who escaped to Canada after the United States Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This law provided for the return of slaves who escaped from one state to another. Many slaves fled to Canada to avoid being returned to their owners. She married Thomas F. Cary, a Toronto barber, in 1856.
In 1869, Cary moved to Washington, D.C., where she taught school for the next 15 years. She also worked for women’s voting rights. Cary studied law at Howard University and received an LL.B. degree in 1883. She was one of the first black female lawyers in the United States. Cary died on June 5, 1893.
