Mary Ann Shadd Revisited: Echoes from an Old House (2015)

Mary Ann Shadd was an impressive Black abolitionist who moved to Canada from Delaware in 1851. She started a school and a newspaper, married and had 2 children before returning to the U.S. in 1863 to recruit Black soldiers to fight in the Civil War. As well as an important legacy, she left behind a collection of her personal letters that was lost until 1974. The letters were discovered accidentally by her descendants in the pile of rubble that remained after they had her old house demolished. Her descendants offered the letters to the Archives of Ontario, and the Archives readily accepted and restored the letters. My film recalls her very interesting life in Canada, but also the very good luck that the letters were found. It also explores the fortuitous timing of the letters' discovery. It was at a point after the emergence of ideas about Social History - the history of ordinary people - as well as Women's History and the Civil Rights Movement. Had the letters been found in the 1930s or 1940s, they might not have been offered to or accepted by the Archives. This film presents this astonishing story along with narration by CBC's Adrian Harewood, vintage film footage, original art work by Canadian artist Teresa Fenton, and musical arrangement and performance by Canadian pianist, Jenna Richards. This is the first film written and produced by Allison Margot Smith.