Mary Maillard, Author at

Mary Maillard

Independent Historian

Mary Maillard is a documentary editor from West Vancouver, British Columbia.

In 2013/ 2014, she received an Albert M. Greenfield Foundation Fellowship in African American History from the Library Company of Philadelphia to further her research on the 19th C African American archival collection, The Annie Wood Webb Papers, which she discovered in 2012. Her article “‘Faithfully Drawn from Real Life:’ Autobiographical Elements in Frank J. Webb’s The Garies and Their Friends” draws on that research to recover the early biographies of author Frank J. Webb and his mother Louisa Burr (Webb, Darius) and to present evidence that Webb was the mixed race grandson of U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr. Maillard’s review essay of Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep appeared in Black Camera: An International Film Journal in Fall 2017. Her most recent edition, Whispers of Cruel Wrongs: The Correspondence of Louisa Jacobs and Her Circle 1879-1911, was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2017 (paper 2020).

Clive Mensah (1989-2019)

Clive Mensah died at the hands of police in his own back yard in Mississauga, Ontario, a city west of Toronto, on Nov. 20, 2019. In March 2021, the Ontario police watchdog unit ruled there would be no criminal charges against the officers involved in … Read MoreClive Mensah (1989-2019)

D’Andre Anthony Campbell (1993-2020)

On April 6, 2020, 26-year-old D’Andre Campbell of Brampton, Ontario, called 911 for help because he was in mental distress and wanted to go to a hospital. Within minutes of Peel Regional Police arriving at his home, two officers tasered him and one shot and … Read MoreD’Andre Anthony Campbell (1993-2020)

Jamal Francique (1991-2020)

Jamal Derek Jr. Francique, a 28-year-old father of two who was active in the Mississauga music scene, was gunned down by a Peel Regional Police officer on January 7, 2020. He died in hospital three days later. Details of the circumstances surrounding Francique’s death are … Read MoreJamal Francique (1991-2020)

Caleb Tubila Njoko (1993-2020)

On May 5, 2020, 26-year-old Caleb Tubila Njoko fell from the 15th floor balcony of his mother’s London, Ontario, apartment building during a police intervention. He died in hospital three days later. Born in Toronto to Francophone Congolese immigrants, Nelly Wendo and Guy Tubila, Caleb … Read MoreCaleb Tubila Njoko (1993-2020)

Regis Korchinski-Paquet (1990-2020)

Hundreds gathered in Toronto for the first annual Regis Korchinski-Paquet Memorial Walk for Justice, organized by Black Lives Matter on July 25, 2020, to honor the life of a young African-Canadian woman who fell 24 floors to her death during an encounter with police. Regis … Read MoreRegis Korchinski-Paquet (1990-2020)

Mary Virginia Wood (Forten) (1815-1840)

Mary Virginia Wood is best known as the mother of poet, diarist, and abolitionist Charlotte Forten, but she was also an abolitionist in her own right. Born enslaved in Hertford, Perquimans County, North Carolina, Mary was the eldest of the four daughters of wealthy planter … Read MoreMary Virginia Wood (Forten) (1815-1840)

Louisa Charlotte Burr (1788-1878)

On August 24, 2019, African American abolitionist John Pierre Burr was honored and formally acknowledged by the Aaron Burr Family Association as the son of former Vice President Aaron Burr in an unveiling of his headstone at Eden Cemetery near Philadelphia. John Pierre Burr was … Read MoreLouisa Charlotte Burr (1788-1878)

Louisa Matilda Jacobs (1833-1917)

Louisa “Lulu” Matilda Jacobs, teacher, equal rights activist, and entrepreneur, was born a slave in Edenton, North Carolina, on October 19, 1833. She was the daughter of congressman and newspaper editor Samuel Tredwell Sawyer and his mixed-race enslaved mistress Harriet Jacobs. Louisa Jacobs was educated … Read MoreLouisa Matilda Jacobs (1833-1917)

Pierre Toussaint (ca. 1781-1853) and Marie-Rose Juliette Gaston (1786-1851)

Pierre Toussaint, New York society hairdresser, devout Catholic, and wealthy philanthropist, was born a third-generation elite house slave at the Bérard family plantation in Haiti. His father’s name is not known but he took his surname in honor of revolutionary hero Toussaint L’Ouverture. His mother, … Read MorePierre Toussaint (ca. 1781-1853) and Marie-Rose Juliette Gaston (1786-1851)

Julia Ann Chinn (ca.1790-1833)

Julia Chinn, the putative common-law wife of 9th US vice president Richard Mentor Johnson (1780-1850), was born an octoroon slave in Scott County, Kentucky. Her parents and exact date of birth are unknown, but she was raised and educated in Johnson’s household by his mother … Read MoreJulia Ann Chinn (ca.1790-1833)