Nurse Mary Seacole - A Courageous Jamaican Lady

Mary Jane Seacole (1805 – 14 May 1881) was a mixed-race British nurse. Born in Jamaica, she operated boarding houses in Panama and the Crimea while simultaneously treating the sick. Seacole was taught herbal remedies and folk medicine by her mother. Always of a nomadic disposition on hearing of the terrible conditions of the Crimean War

and certain that her knowledge of tropical medicine would be of use, traveled to London and volunteered as a nurse, although an expert at dealing with cholera, her application to join Florence Nightingale's team was rejected.

She then borrowed money to make the 4000-mile journey alone. On arrival she distinguished herself treating the wounded on the battlefield. On many occasions treating wounded soldiers from both sides while under fire, whereas Florence Nightingale and her nurses were based in a hospital several miles from the front. Following the cessation of hostilities in 1856 she found herself stranded and almost destitute, and was saved from penury by the Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces Lord Rokeby who organized a benefit.

Seacole was lauded in her lifetime, alongside Florence Nightingale, but after her death was forgotten for almost 100 years. Today she is noted not only for her bravery and
medical skills but as "a woman who succeeded despite the racial prejudice of influential sections of Victorian society"

Her autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands (1857), a vivid account of her life and experiences, is one of the earliest autobiographies by a black woman.

Honours

• The memory of Mary Seacole was first honoured by the nurses of Jamaica, when in 1954 they named their projected headquarters "Mary Seacole House".
  

• Nine years later the Association acquired a life-sized bust of Mary Seacole, which stands in the foyer in the headquarters. The bust is a reproduction done by Mr. Curtis Johnston, a Jamaican sculptor, from the original one, which is in the Institute of Jamaica.
  

• After her return to England, Mary Seacole was presented with the Crimean medal, which she always wore afterwards on her dress.
  

• The Jamaica Government in 1990 awarded her posthumously with the country's third highest honour, the Order of Merit.
  

• The female hall of residence at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies also bears her name in recognition of her distinguished contribution to medicine, healing and nursing.
  

• The British Government had announced a Bursary valued at $25,000 in her name in 1993.

Pic: A watercolor of Mary Seacole, with sleeves rolled up ready for action. c.1850

See you in Jamaica.