Tracing Mary Ann Shadd Cary's Footsteps in Mid‑19th C. Black Toronto

Mary Ann Shadd Cary is a Black woman of great historical significance. She was an abolitionist, an emigrationist, an educator, and a newspaper publisher. This extraordinary woman whose involvement particularly contributed to changing, for the better, the course of Toronto's history.

EXPLORE

The secrets of a vibrant history are revealed to you. Discover this thematic that provides a glimpse of the Toronto that Mary Ann Shadd Cary encountered in the mid-1850s through the interactive map offered on BaladoDiscovery. 

Take a trip back to the 1850s and (re)discover the city through the stories surrounding the life of Mary Ann Shadd Cary and the Toronto community of the time.

ON SITE

Live an authentic experience on the streets of Toronto! A GPS self-guided tour through downtown Toronto allows you to engage with some of the places and stories that marked this significant era in history. Learn about the homes, businesses and community institutions built by people in the Black community and their achievements that helped foster social cohesion by working hard and actively advocating for racial equality.

OPTIMIZED EXPERIENCE

The BaladoDiscovery Mobile App is recommended and allows you to preload the circuit and then be guided and informed offline, without an Internet network. Your location is displayed on your screen in real time to help you get your bearings. Wearing headphones is also recommended.

FOREWORD

Born free in Delaware in 1823, Shadd Cary moved to Canada West (Ontario) in 1851. Other family members including her parents and some of her siblings followed shortly. She spent eleven years in Canada West (1851 - 1863) and had a huge impact. Shadd Cary first settled in Windsor where she taught at a private integrated school she established. She published A Plea for Emigration; or Notes of Canada West in 1852 to encourage African Americans to migrate north and established the Provincial Freeman newspaper in 1853. 

SC was also a staunch abolitionist who led community-based initiatives to assist in the settling of freedom seekers and provided support for the UGRR network that assisted freedom seekers in their journey north. She moved to Toronto in 1854. The Provincial Freeman newspaper was published in Toronto from 1854 – 1855. It is likely that she resided with a family in the community near to the Provincial Freeman office. 

When Shadd Cary arrived in Toronto, the Black population was exploding. The second Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the US Congress in 1850, resulting in a huge migration wave of freedom seekers and free/d Black people into Canada, with Toronto being one of the destinations. The city was a centre of abolitionist activity and a major terminus on the UGRR. Black residents fostered a cohesive community, establishing homes, businesses, churches, working in various capacities, and actively advocating for racial equality. 

Enjoy your trip through time!

CREDITS

Created by Dr. Natasha Henry-Dixon, Professor of African Canadian History at York University, with financial support from York University.

RESEARCH ASSISTANCE

Isabelle Blake

DESIGN, COORDINATION ASSISTANCE, RECORDING & EDITING 

Raeon George

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baker, Nathan. “Anti-Slavery Society of Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. Last edited March 5, 2019.

The Canada Directory, 1857. The Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1909.

City of Toronto. “Market Gallery.” Toronto History Museums. Accessed August 21, 2023.

City of Toronto. “St. Lawrence Market District.” Accessed August 21, 2023.

Dawson, Hilary J. “From Immigrant to Establishment: A Black Family’s Journey.” Ontario History, 99, no. 1 (Spring 2007): 31-43. 

Heritage Toronto. “Building Toronto - St. Lawrence Market.”  Accessed August 21, 2023.

Mulvany, Charles Pelham, Toronto: Past and Present: A Handbook of the City. Canada: W. E. Caiger, 1884.

Rhodes, Jane. Mary Ann Shadd Cary : the Black Press and Protest in the Nineteenth Century. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998.

Shadd, Adrienne, Afua Cooper, and Karolyn Smardz Frost. The Underground Railroad : Next Stop, Toronto! Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Toronto Public Library, Karolyn Smardz Frost, and Afua Cooper. “Freedom City.” January 31, 2015.

University of Toronto Libraries. “Abolition and the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada.” Celebrating Black Voices: Black History Resources at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. Accessed September 5, 2023.

Virag, Sarah. “Feature from the Collections: Looking Back at the History of the Normal School Building - Part One.” Toronto Metropolitan University Archives & Special Collections. February 19, 2013.

Virag, Sarah. “Feature from the Collections: Looking Back at the History of the Normal School Building - Part Two.” Toronto Metropolitan University Archives & Special Collections. April 25, 2013.