Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893)

Women are often identified as teachers. We teach through child rearing and mothering. We teach through our community involvement. We teach professionally. In our many roles, women hold a unique place as teachers: to each other, to our communities, to our children and to ourselves.  An early example of an exceptional woman teacher in Canada’s past is Mary Ann Shadd Cary.

 

 The only known photo of Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1839)

 Mary Ann grew up in the Northern United States and arrived in Windsor, Ontario in 1853. Although she was never a slave herself, she was committed to abolishing slavery. Mary Ann, along with her family, was part of the mass migration of Blacks, both fugitive and free, to Ontario (then Canada West) following the American Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, which resulted in heightened racial tension and increased violence against Blacks across the United States. Mary Ann brought with her to Canada a commitment to both teaching and activism.

           

Mary Ann Shadd Cary is probably best known in Canadian history as the first woman to establish and be editor of a newspaper in Canada. She founded The Provincial Freeman in 1853, a newspaper dedicated to supporting the Black community in both the US and Canada. Through The Provincial Freeman, Mary Ann created for herself a public voice through which she expressed her greatest concerns. She was a journalist, an activist and a teacher to the many Blacks and whites who read her newspaper.

           

Mary Ann’s political activism and involvement also gave her an opportunity to provide public lectures. This was still very uncommon for women at this time, and even for a generally well-liked public figure like Mary Ann, there was often great opposition to her speaking publicly. Nonetheless, Mary Ann was dedicated to her work and spent a great deal of her time travelling and speaking on various issues affecting the black community. She was a powerful, dynamic speaker who educated and inspired many to get involved in the abolition movement.

           

The Provincial Freeman, March 24, 1853

Not only did Mary Ann step beyond what was considered ‘appropriate’ work for a woman through her newspaper and public speaking, but she was a teacher in the more traditional sense as well.  Mary Ann was committed to providing education to Blacks her whole life. Like many, she saw literacy and education as key factors in achieving freedom and autonomy. Upon arriving in Windsor, Mary Ann established a school, open to all in the community. Her duties as a teacher included teaching the lessons, recruiting students, maintaining the building, and fundraising. Although the school ultimately closed due to lack of financial support, there is no doubt that Mary Ann’s work as teacher touched many who passed through her school.

           

In addition to her day-school, Mary Ann also ran a Sunday school class, another teaching role traditionally held by women. Although religion and spirituality have been noted as being especially important to Black migrants during this period, Mary Ann was often critical of Black churches as she claimed that they too often preached passivity and submission, rather than activism. Given her feelings on these issues and her personal commitment to activism, it is likely that Mary Ann used her Sunday school class to inspire and educate in unconventional ways as well.

           

Like many women of her time, Mary Ann Shadd Cary was a school teacher, and had an incredible commitment to local charity, her family and children. While she is certainly an inspiration for being a teacher in these ways, it is the ways in which she pushed past traditional expectations that remain exceptional. Her dedication to equality, justice and freedom led her to be a teacher of many, through her newspapers, writing and public lectures.

           

When I reflect on the life of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, I am struck by her strength. As limited as she was by both her race and her gender, she was not discouraged by the discrimination she faced. She used her own experiences and her own struggles to teach others.  Like many other women across generations who have migrated to Canada, Mary Ann contributed a great deal to her community. Her influence cannot be measured in any simple sense. Yet even today, over a hundred years after her death, she continues to be a teacher who is encouraging, motivating and inspiring.

Written by Patricia Kmiec 

Edited by Kristine Scarrow