It is Black History Month and each day this month I am sharing stories from Canada's Black history. Today it is the story of Mary Ann Shadd, the first Black woman publisher in North America and the first female publisher in Canada! 🧵1/11 - ThreadSky

cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social • 21 days ago

It is Black History Month and each day this month I am sharing stories from Canada's Black history.

Today it is the story of Mary Ann Shadd, the first Black woman publisher in North America and the first female publisher in Canada!

🧵1/11

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•21 days ago

Shadd was born in Delaware on Oct. 9, 1823. Her parents were involved in the Underground Railroad and gave refuge to enslaved persons. After the US government passed the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, Mary's father Abraham (pictured) moved the family to Canada West.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•21 days ago

Abraham Shadd and his family settled in North Buxton, Canada West (Ontario). He went on to become one of the first Black men elected to public office in Canada when he became a counsellor of Raleigh Township in 1858.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•21 days ago

Mary Ann Shadd and her brother Isaac settled in Windsor. In the community, Shadd created a school to offer education to children and youth in the morning, and adults in the evening.
In 1853, she founded the anti-slavery newspaper The Provincial Freeman.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•21 days ago

The newspaper was devoted to the message of anti-slavery. Published weekly, the first issue went out on March 24, 1853.
Since she was a woman, she persuaded her friend Samuel Ringgold Ward and Reverend Alexander McArthur to have their names in the masthead.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•21 days ago

Her name may have not been prominent in the printed paper, but Shadd was involved with all aspects of its publishing.
Shadd travelled across the Province of Canada to increase the paper's subscription and raise money to help escaped enslaved persons.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•21 days ago

In 1854, Shadd finally put her name in the masthead. This generated intense criticism as she was a woman, and Shadd resigned from the paper in 1855.
The paper continued to publish until 1857 when financial difficulties forced it to fold.

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