Before Florence Nightingale, There Was Mary Seacole
Many have heard of Florence Nightingale, the British nurse who saved many lives in the Crimean War. Relatively few have heard of Mary Seacole (1805 – 1881), a pioneering nurse and Crimean War heroine. As a woman, and a black one at that, Seacole had to overcome the double prejudices of sexism and racism. She established what came to be known as the “British Hotel” for convalescent officers behind the Crimean War’s front lines, and cared for wounded soldiers on the battlefield.
Mary Seacole was born in Kingston, Jamaica, then a British colony, to a Scottish soldier and a black mother. Her mother used traditional African and Caribbean herbal remedies, and she passed that knowledge on to her daughter. Mother and daughter ran a boarding house for invalid soldiers. It was widely viewed as one of the best hotels in Kingston. The precarious health of many guests meant that Mary grew up with firsthand knowledge of dealing with ailments and physical crises.
