Media & Journalism
Landmark
Mary Ann Shadd Cary
1823 – 1893
The first Black woman in North America to edit and publish a newspaper
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Canada Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
She founded Canada's first anti-slavery newspaper in 1853 and put a man's name on the masthead, knowing readers would not take it from a Black woman.
Mary Ann Shadd Cary was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1823 to abolitionist parents whose home was a station on the Underground Railroad. The family moved to Pennsylvania so the children could go to school, education for Black children being illegal in Delaware, and she taught for twelve years.
After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 the family moved to Canada. On 24 March 1853 she published the first edition of The Provincial Freeman, Canada's first anti-slavery newspaper, making her the first Black woman in North America to edit and publish one. Expecting readers to balk at a Black woman editor, she listed the abolitionist Samuel Ringgold Ward as publisher and shortened her own name to conceal her sex.
After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 the family moved to Canada. On 24 March 1853 she published the first edition of The Provincial Freeman, Canada's first anti-slavery newspaper, making her the first Black woman in North America to edit and publish one. Expecting readers to balk at a Black woman editor, she listed the abolitionist Samuel Ringgold Ward as publisher and shortened her own name to conceal her sex.
- Britannica — Mary Ann Shadd Cary
- Government of Canada — Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823–1893)
- Zinn Education Project — Mary Ann Shadd Cary published The Provincial Freeman
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