The 197th birthday of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, an American-Canadian newspaper editor and publisher, writer, teacher, lawyer, abolitionist and suffragist, is celebrated by Google’s 9 October Doodle.
Shadd Cary was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on 9 October 1823, to two committed abolitionists who used their home as a station on the Underground Railroad to provide escaping slaves with shelter.
Shadd Cary became the first black female journal editor and publisher in North America and later the second black woman to receive a law degree in the United States after graduating from boarding school and working as a teacher.
In 1853, after her family relocated to Canada following the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, she published her historic newspaper, The Provincial Freeman, a weekly publication targeted for escaping slaves.
After marrying and moving to the US, Shadd Cary received her law degree from Howard University in 1883.
As a result of her contributions to society and history, the Canadian government recognized her in 1994 as a Person of National Historic Significance.
Guest artist Michelle Theodore, who is based in Alberta , Canada, illustrates Google Doodle.
