Founded in Windsor, Ontario, the Provincial Freeman was published from 1853 to 1857 under Mary Ann Shadd Cary’s leadership.
Courtesy of Accessible Archives Inc.
Mary Ann Shadd Cary
Mary Ann Shadd Cary
Advocating for the Black community
Date of birth
1823
Point of origin
United States
Shadd moved north into Canada West in 1851, having already established herself as an advocate for the Black community in America.
The front page of Mary Ann Shad Cary's Provincial Freeman, 17 June 1854. The masthead declares the politics of the project, including the maxim, "self-reliance is the true road to independence."
Courtesy of Accessible Archives Inc.
Mary Ann Shadd Cary was a pioneering Black publisher and educator in Canada and the United States.
Library and Archives Canada/Mary Ann Shadd Cary collection/c029977
Mary Ann Shadd Cary, 1823-1893, United States.
Shadd moved north into Canada West in 1851, having already established herself as an advocate for the Black community in America. She was an educator and an activist in her new home, and used her role as the first Black female newspaper publisher in Canada to promote racial integration.
