Along with Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole (born Jamaica, 1805) was a pioneering nurse & a heroine of the Crimean War. Her great work went unrecognised for almost a century after her death. The War Office declined her request to be sent to the Crimea as a war nurse, so she funded the trip herself & founded the ‘British Hotel’ to help look after sick & wounded soldiers. Her autobiog. (1857) was the 1st written by a black woman in Britain
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@Maggie It's worth noting that the Royal South Hampshire Hospital, in Southampton, has a Seacole Ward, named in her honour, but that's the first and only tribute I've ever encountered.
@alexanderhay
Many thanks for sharing
@alexanderhay @Maggie perhaps because of this local connection, my daughter learned about #MarySeacole in junior school & educated her parents!
@privateshufti @alexanderhay
Yes, happy to hear your daughter was able to tell you about this wonderfully courageous lady. Her determination & kindness will hopefully inspire girls to follow their aspirations.
@Maggie
Thank you for sharing this - hopefully, nursing & medical schools will amend their history component to include Mary Seacole!
@Maggie Mary Seacole & her work as a doctoress providing hospitality & medical care during the Crimean War were shown in Doctor Who: Flux, Ep. 2 (Nov. 2019 BBC series).
2 years before that there was an episode called "Rosa's wh/ focused primarily on her refusal to give up her seat on the bus but also included MLK meeting w/ Ms. Parks & others before the bus protest & her receiving honors late in her life.
#DoctorWho #ChrisChibnall #ThirteenthDoctor #MarySeacole #RosaParks
@Maggie Hope you don't think I'm hijacking your thread. I'd never heard of her before but she's apparently better known in the UK. I was impressed by what I learned and read later on when I researched her.
@Maggie sorry to hijack your thread even more, just wanted to add this Beyonce-inspired song from the BBC's children's show Horrible Histories from 2012. This was the first time I heard of Mary Seacole, but my kids have grown up with her as a result of this and Doctor Who.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/watch/horrible-histories-song-mary-seacole-song
@Jools
Many thanks for sharing & the "hijack"
It's great that these significant events/ people in history or now being included in media for kids.
I like the catchy Beyonce video.
@KatieSoCal So glad to hear that you researched her life more. She really was a brave and inspiring lady.
@Maggie
This little strip of land by the Grand Union Canal in the industrial no man's land by the back of Paddington Station London, is Mary Seacole Gardens. It seems like a begrudging tribute to a great woman, tucked away in a spot where few people will go, and even less people will notice it.
After everything she did for us, surely she deserves better than this.
@ProjectFearlessness
Thanks for sharing. It does look a bit small. I hope that all kids will now learn about her in school. Mary's story is so courageous & inspiring.
@Maggie
Mary was my hero.
@SueASmith
Yes, I also think, she was a really wonderful & very courageous woman. Her determination is extremely admireable as she wasn't dissuaded from using her skills to help others.
@Maggie
And her record of treating/caring for injured soldiers in Crimea was statistically better than Florence Nightingale's.
@Maggie @sbwright there’s a great podcast episode on ‘you’re dead to me’ on her - worth a listen https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b2bjb6
@Trishh @sbwright
Many, many thanks for sharing this fantastic podcast . It's funny, informative & wonderfully describes Mary Seacole 's very admirable & inspiring life.
I've got to share it & hope lots more ppl./ kids listen who haven't already heard it.
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