WILMINGTON — The post office at 500 Delaware Ave. in Wilmington will be renamed the Mary Ann Shadd Cary Post Office in honor of the Black suffragist.

“It’s difficult to put into words the remarkable life and legacy of Mary Ann Shadd Cary,” said Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who was instrumental in getting the renaming legislation passed, along with Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons, all D-Del.

“An abolitionist, suffragist, journalist, newspaper editor and lawyer — she channeled her gifts to whatever purpose they were most needed in the name of freedom and the purpose of equality,” Rep. Rochester said.

According to a press release from Rep. Rochester’s office, Ms. Shadd Cary was the first Black woman to establish and edit a North American newspaper and helped recruit African American soldiers for the Civil War.

Later in life, she became a dedicated suffragist who helped pass the 14th and 15th amendments.

“When I learned of the full scope and breadth of Ms. Shadd Cary’s accomplishments, I was stunned to learn there were no formal memorials to her work in her home state of Delaware,” Rep. Rochester said. “That changes today.”