Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an Anti-slavery activist, journalist, publisher, teacher and lawyer. She was the first black woman publisher in North America and the first woman publisher in Canada. She was one of the most outspoken female proponents of the abolition of slavery of her day, and promoted equality for all people. Cary was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on October 9, 1823 to a socially activist father. Her family moved to Pennsylvania (at the time had better educational opportunities for Black children), and she attended a Quaker school. In 1987 she was posthumously designated a Women’s History Month Honoree by the National Women’s History Project. She was also honored by Canada and named a Person of National Historic Significance. Mary Ann Shadd Cary’s former residence in the U Street Corridor in Washington D.C. was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

Born in Wilmington in 1861, Emily Bissell was the founder of Wilmington’s first public kindergarten. She is also known for her efforts to introduce child labor laws. In 1883, she founded an organization, now known as the West End Neighborhood House, that originally provided social services to Wilmington’s immigrant Irish and German families. Bissell was passionate about finding the cure for tuberculosis. She popularized the Christmas seal system by which people attached a special Christmas stamp to their mail with the proceeds going to fighting the disease. Though the idea failed at first, Bissell continued on, eventually making three thousand dollars, which was well beyond her original goal. She spent the rest of her life promoting Christmas stamps to eliminate tuberculosis, before dying in 1948. In 1980, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in her honor.