Mary Ann Shadd Cary

(323) 938-0538  ArtisLane@att.net 

Lane was commissioned by Chatham- Kent Black Historical Society to create a bust of her great, great aunt Mary Ann Shadd Cary 1824 - 1893.

Cary was a trailblazer in education, law and journalism.

The bust was unveiled in Freedom Park in Chatham, Ontario, Canada the hometown of Ms. Lane. The event was hosted by Canadian dignitaries only a few days after Lane’s Sojourner Truth’s bust was unveiled in Washington, DC.

Born a free Black in Wilmington, Delaware, Shadd also worked for abolition, racial uplift and women’s rights.

She was a proponent of emigration from the United States to Canada, moving to Canada in 1850. While living in Sandwich (Windsor) and working as a teacher she founded The Provincial Freeman, effectively becoming the first female editor of a North American newspaper. The Provincial Freeman operated in Windsor, Toronto and, finally Chatham.

During the Civil War, Shadd served as a recruiter for the Union Army. Although she had become a canadian citizen, Shadd moved back to the United States after the War ended. Shadd settled in Washington, DC, where she became the first woman to enter Howard University’s Law School.

In addition Shadd testified before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives along with  women’s rights activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Shadd succeeded in achieving another first when she became the first Black women to cast a vote in a national election

Clay in progress with sketches and the only photograph available of Cary

Portrait of Mary Shadd Cary. Ms. Lane was commissioned by the school named in Cary’s honor, Canada

Lane Creates Bust of Mary Ann Shadd Cary

Gwen Robinson, director of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society and Lane.

Poster created by Lane telling the story of this historic figure