Cary, Mary Ann Shadd
1823 - 1893

Details
Alias: Mary Ann Shadd
Born: 10/9/1823 in Delaware
Died: 1893
Ethnicity: African American/Black
Professional Facts
Regions and States of Practice:
MI, Midwest
NJ, Northeast
NY, Northeast
PA, Northeast
DC, South
DE, South
Legal Education:
Howard University School of Law, 1883
Positions During Her Career:
Teamed with Samuel Ward, a preacher for the Anti-Slavery Society, and several others to publish the newspaper, "The Provincial Freeman" (1853-1860)
Recruiter of black soldiers for the union army (1864-1865)
Writer for the "New National Era"
Sales agent for "The Underground Railroad"
Elected by Samuel Watson and other Detroit leaders to represent Michigan at the convention of the Colored National Labor Union in Washington, DC (1869)
Member of the Committee of Female Suffrage
Teacher at the Lincoln Mission School (1869-?)
Prepared testimony to present before the House Judiciary Committee in support of the women’s suffrage (1874)
Formed the Colored Women’s Progressive Franchise Association (1880)
One of two black representatives at the annual congress of the Association for the Advancement of Women in New York (1887)
Firsts:
Woman to enroll in Howard University Law School (1869)
African-American woman to enroll in law school (1869)
African-American woman editor and publisher of a newspaper in North America
Further Research Materials

References:
Smith, J. Clay (John Clay), Emancipation : The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press (1993)
The Fugitive Slave Act
Paul Halsall, The Fugitive Slave Act, Internet Modern History Sourcebook (July 1998), available at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1850fugitive.html
All the Allies of Each: Lelia Robinson's Portrait of Early Women Lawyers in America
Julia Steele, All the Allies of Each: Lelia Robinson's Portrait of Early Women Lawyers in America, 1998
Women Lawyers in the United States
Lelia J. Robinson, Women Lawyers in the United States, 2 The Green Bag 10 (1890)

Student Papers:
Mary Ann Shadd Cary: A Biographical Sketch of the Rebel
Sneed, Shamina, 2002
Potential Paper Topics:
An analysis of her testimony before the House Judiciary in support of women's suffrage.
An analysis of her pamphlet, "A Plea for Emigration or Notes on Canada West" and its connection to the Fugitive Slave Act.
An analysis of her articles in the "Provincial Freeman" pertaining to the Dred Scott decision.
Research into her involvement with the temperance movement.