Mary Ann Shadd
Today the search engine Google has shared an interactive Google doodle celebrating the Mary Ann Shadd Cary’s 197th birthday. This doodle has been illustrated by the Canada based guest artist Michelle Theodore. She has shared her personal thoughts on making this Doodle and told that “I hope people will look at this illustration of a remarkable Black woman from the 1800s and feel inspired by what she was able to accomplish against all odds as an editor, educator, and activist.”
This doodle is about Mary Ann Shadd Cary’s life, she was born on 9th October 1823 in Wilmington, Delaware. She was was an American-Canadian anti-slavery activist, journalist, publisher, teacher, lawyer, abolitionist, and suffragist.
She was the first Black woman publisher in North America and the first woman publisher in Canada.
Shadd Cary amended The Provincial Freeman, recognized in 1853. Published weekly in Ontario, it supported equality, integration and self-education for black people in Canada and the United States.
Born Mary Ann Shadd Cary
October 9, 1823
Died June 5, 1893 (aged 69)
Resting place Columbian Harmony Cemetery
Occupation Anti-slavery activist, journalist, publisher, teacher, lawyer
Alma mater Howard University (School of Law)
Spouse Thomas F. Cary (m. 1856)
Children Sarah Elizabeth Cary; Linton Shadd Cary
Why is Mary Ann Shadd Cary important?
Abolitionist Ann Shadd Cary became the first woman African American newspaper editor in North America when she started the Black newspaper The Provincial Freemen. She became the second African American woman in the United States to get a law degree.
Growing up, her family’s home frequently helped as a refuge for fugitive slaves; however, when it became illegal to educate African-American children in the state of Delaware, the Shadd family moved to Pennsylvania, where Mary joined a Quaker Boarding School.
In 1840, after being away at school, Mary Ann returned to East Chester and recognized a school for black children. She also later trained in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and New York City.
After the Civil War, she taught in black schools in Wilmington. She then returned to Washington, D.C., with her daughter, and taught for fifteen years in the public schools.
She then joined Howard University School of Law. She graduated at the age of 60 in 1883, becoming only the second black woman in the United States to earn a law degree.
For her priceless contributions to Canadian history, Shadd Cary was honored by the country in 1994 as a Person of National Historic Significance.
Read more here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Shadd