who boarded the train and freed Demarest. Seven arrests were made, among them Mary Ann's brother, Isaac Shadd. But it was revealed that Merwin actually kidnapped Demarest in New York City, and the charges against Isaac and the others were dropped. Demarest remained with Isaac’s family until his mother came to get him.16 Te year 1858 also was
36
marked by the visit of abolitionist John Brown, who held his “secret” Chatham Convention during which he revealed his plan to incite an insurrection by the slaves in the South. One of his goals at the convention was to recruit volunteers for his guerilla army. Forty-seven delegates attended the convention, including Isaac Shadd, Mary Ann's brother, and Osborne Anderson, who worked as a printer for the Freeman. Te Shadds strongly supported Brown and allowed him use of the Freeman office. Employees of the Freeman also drew lots to determine who would join Brown’s army, and Anderson won.17 In June 1858, the paper resumed
publication, and Tomas Cary joined the staff. But his sudden death on November, 29, 1860, only four months after the birth of the Carys’ second child, turned to a new page in Mary Ann’s life. From 1860 to 1863, she operated
a school for blacks at Chatham along with her sister. She also edited A Voice from Harper’s Ferry, an account of John Brown’s 1859 raid by Osborne Anderson, who was one of six mem- bers of Brown’s army who survived.
dren. Te nation’s capital had become a mecca for black Americans. While teaching school during the day, Mary Ann enrolled in the first law school class at Howard University in 1869. A great deal of conjecture about her time there has surfaced, but there is no doubt that she along with Lemma Barkaloo, who was admitted to St. Louis School of Law, were the first black American women admit- ted to law school. However, she did not graduate until 1883, and there is speculation that her gender played a role in the delay.18
most law schools prohibited the admission of women, and those women who were able to find a law school to accept them often were denied entry into the bar.19 During this period, Mary
THE FRONT PAGE OF THE PROVINCIAL FREEMAN FROM MARCH 25, 1854.
THE DREAM ABANDONED Mary Ann followed the Civil War closely. In January 1864, she was asked to help recruit black soldiers. She responded enthusiastically and traveled through the North much as she had when she promoted the Freeman. But in this cause, she was much more successful. She had begun to turn her back on the Promised Land of Canada. As the number of American black immigrants in Canada increased, so had the level of prejudice. What Mary Ann had fled to avoid had recreated itself there. Following the war, she moved to Washington, D.C., with her chil-
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013
Ann also wrote a number of articles dealing with women’s suffrage, temperance, and edu- cation, for the New National Era of which Frederick
Douglass had become editor and publisher. She also joined the National Women’s Suffrage Association (NWSA), attempting but failing to register to vote in 1871, and addressed the national convention of the NWSA in 1878.20 After the New National Era stopped
publishing in 1874, Mary Ann’s outlet for expression closed. Her attempt to publish her own biography was rejected and younger editors were not interested in hearing the old rhetoric that she trumpeted. Nevertheless, her drive to improve the condition of her race and her gender never slackened. Finally, she received her law degree and was admit-
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During this period,
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