Good Afternoon,
The Archives of Ontario (AO) and Library and Archives Canada (LAC) are
pleased to share that the records of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, held at the AO and at LAC respectively, have been inscribed on the Canadian Commission for
UNESCO’s Canada
Memory of the World Register. Adding these records to the Register recognizes the importance of this material to the collective history of Canada. This inscription represents
a first-time collaboration between the AO and LAC on such a nomination.
Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893) was a journalist, author, lawyer, educator, suffragette, feminist and abolitionist. Born on October 9, 1823, in Wilmington, Delaware,
Shadd Cary moved to Canada West in 1851 where she lived for nearly ten years in Windsor, Toronto and Chatham. A fearless advocate for racial equity and social justice, she founded
The Provincial Freeman newspaper (issued from 1853 until 1857), becoming the first Black woman to publish, edit and run a newspaper in North America. The paper fought to abolish slavery and advocated for women’s rights and social reform.
Shadd Cary’s voice continues to resonate today through the records preserved at the AO and at LAC. These records represent one of the most significant accumulations
of material in North America by or about Shadd Cary. They have already garnered much interest over the past few years, including serving as the focus of an international transcription project in February 2023, which was developed in conjunction with the Centre
for Black Digital Research, Penn State University.
The records also represent a significant cache of material for understanding Shadd Cary’s thinking on various topics, such as the editorial position of
The Provincial Freeman, and documents her professional relationships and friendships with several prominent African American abolitionists. The records not only offer insight into Shadd Cary’s prominence within various anti-slavery societies but, more
importantly, a view into her position as a free Black woman who came to Canada and was instrumental in helping to give women and Black people in Canada a voice.
This coming October 9 will mark the 200th anniversary of Shadd Cary’s birth, a milestone acknowledged by this timely inscription and which the AO is also marking
with a celebratory event in collaboration with the City of Toronto History Museums at St. Lawrence Hall in Toronto on October 14.
For additional information on the Mary Ann Shadd Cary records, and to explore photos from the collection online, please see:
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Description of the Mary Ann Shadd Cary fonds (F 1409) at the Archives of Ontario:
- Description of the Mary Ann Shadd Cary collection at Library and Archives Canada:
http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=100441&lang=eng
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Photographs from the Mary Ann Shadd Cary fonds on the Archives of Ontario’s GLAM Wiki page:
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CCUNESCO’s press release related to the inscription:
All the best,
Sean
Sean Smith
Senior Manager, Strategic Stakeholder Development (A)
Archives of Ontario
(416) 566-0236
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