On this day, October 9, in 1823

Black American abolitionist and newspaper publisher Mary Ann Shadd Cary was born in Wilmington, Delaware. When Mary was 17 years old she opened a school for black children in Pennsylvania. Ten years later the fugitive slave act was passed and Mary moved to Canada where she founded a racially integrated school as well as establishing “The Provincial Freeman,” a newspaper that attacked slavery and promoted the education of blacks. After moving back to the US, Mary graduated from Howard Law School, becoming the second Black woman in the US to graduate with a law degree. During her career as a lawyer, Mary Ann Shadd worked hard to achieve voting rights for women in America.