A CAMPAIGN is still under way to raise £475,000 to erect a statue in London of 19th century nurse, Mary Seacole, perhaps Jamaica's most famous volunteer.
Since the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal was launched in 2003, just £26,000 has been raised, including £5,000 from the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ).
Dubbed the 'Black Florence Nightingale', Mary Seacole became famous for nursing British soldiers during the 1855-1856 Crimean War. Unlike the celebrated white-Briton Nightingale, Seacole was refused enlistment. She nonetheless raised funds to travel to the war where she established the British Hotel to give soldiers accommodation, food and nursing care.
LEFT STRANDED
Despite her efforts she was left stranded after the war and again had to pay for her fare back to the United Kingdom. She was also left out of the memorial to the Crimean War, unlike Nightingale.
Speaking at the 2003 launch of the Mary Seacole memorial campaign at the Houses of Parliament, British Member of Parliament, Clive Sloley, said the recognition was long overdue.
"We all appreciate the enormous ability and courage of this lady. Unfortunately, the contributions of the ethnic minority people to Britain throughout the 19th century and indeed long before that is desperately under-recorded in Britain," said Mr. Sloley.
Professor Elizabeth Anionwu, head of the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice at the Thames Valley University, said it was important that Mary Seacole's work in Jamaica also be highlighted: "I think it is important to make the links to Jamaica and that the story of Mary Seacole in Jamaica also be highlighted because she is admired by, and has inspired so many Jamaican nurses."
For more information contact the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal; telephone: 01144(0)
20 8280 5109; email:
info@maryseacoleappeal.org; or URL: http://www.maryseacoleappeal.org.uk.
