Mary Ann Shadd Cary left a remarkable legacy in Canada's history. Yet many people have never heard of her.

Black communities have kept her story alive, but it's only in the last decades that her life's work has been recognized.

Shadd Cary is the first Black woman publisher in Canada. She was also an abolitionist, journalist, lawyer and educator who helped lay the groundwork for racial integration and women's equality in Canada.

"Her accomplishments are even more impressive when you think about the kind of world that she was born into and the fact that she had to navigate that world with two strikes against her already being Black and being a woman. And it is surprising and exhilarating to see how much she was able to accomplish," said Maxine Robbins, married to Ed Robbins who is Shadd Cary's great, great, great nephew.

As a retired teacher, Robbins adds that she wished she had a role model like Shadd Cary.

Shadd Cary was relentless in her activism and fighting for equality. She founded a racially-integrated school at a time when Black students were not allowed to learn in public schools, established The Provincial Freeman — an anti-slavery newspaper, travelled to the U.S. advocating for racial integration and insisting on equality, and at the age of 60 became the second Black woman in the U.S. to earn a law degree.

In October 2023, the City's Toronto History Museums marked the 200th anniversary of Mary Ann Shad Cary's birth, by hosting a series of panel discussions and poetry recitations celebrating her life, work and influences, and connecting her inspiring legacy with Shadd Cary family descendants, academics, journalists and the Honourable Dr. Jean Augustine.

Guests in our episode:

Adrienne Shadd is a historian, a curator and an author. She is Mary Ann Shadd Cary's great, great, great niece.

Shannon Prince is a curator of the Buxton National Historic Site in North Buxton, Ontario, just south of Chatham. She is also Mary's great, great, great niece.

Maxine Robbins is a retired educator. She is married to Ed Robbins, a retired educator and superintendent. Ed Robbins is Mary's great, great, great nephew.

Rosemary Sandlier is a former president of the Ontario Black History Society.

Rinaldo Walcott is a professor of Africana and American Studies at the University at Buffalo.

Kristin Moriah was a moderator for this discussion and is an assistant professor of African-American literature at Queen's University in Kingston.

Nana aba Duncan is the Carty Chair of Journalism at Carleton University and is developing the Mary Ann Shadd Cary Centre for Journalism and Belonging.

Poetry written and recited by MayaSpoken, Jenn Kasiama, and Larynx aka Shafiq Ettienne.

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*This episode was produced by Naheed Mustafa.