Windsor

Plaque in Windsor park named after slavery abolitionist stolen just two months after dedication

A bronze plaque honouring a slavery abolitionist and publisher who lived in Windsor has been stolen, according to the city. 

The city says the plaque was reported missing Friday

The Mary E. Bibb Park is located next to Mackenzie Hall on Sandwich Street in Windsor. (Jacob Barker/CBC)

A bronze plaque honouring a slavery abolitionist and publisher who lived in Windsor has been stolen, according to the city. 

In a news release Tuesday, the city said plaque, worth more than $6,000, was reported missing Friday to Windsor police. The plaque, which honours Mary E. Bibb and her husband Henry Bibb, was placed at the former Mackenzie Hall Park, which was rededicated and named the Mary E. Bibb Park on Feb. 2. 

Bibb and her husband were publishers of The Voice of the Fugitive, an anti-slavery newspaper founded in 1851. The Bibbs also operated the Refugee Home Society, which helped formerly enslaved people purchase homes and land. 

Mary Bibb founded several schools, opened a dress-making business, offered settlement services and discovered literary societies.

The city presented the plaque and honoured these moments of Bibb's life during a virtual ceremony last month.

The city said that anyone with information on the stolen plaque is asked to contact Windsor police.