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This page might be useful for anybody seeking information for kids or adults interested in Mary Seacole.

May 2012: Article entitled 'Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands' by Professor Elizabeth Anionwu published in British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, (May 2012) Vol 6; Number 5; pages244-248.

Belong to Facebook?  Please join the NEW Facebook page: 'Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal' via: www.facebook.com/SeacoleStatueAppeal   

YOU CAN NOW TEXT YOUR DONATION TO THE MARY SEACOLE MEMORIAL STATUE APPEAL FREE OF CHARGE! Courtesy of Vodafone & JustGiving it is now possible to donate anything from £1 by text [free of charge] to the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal.  Let’s say that you wanted to donate £5 - just text  MARY11  £5  to  70070    Thank you!

Nursing Standard podcast comparing Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole published online Wednesday 5th October 2011 & now on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LVDwnRk2A

Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole first met in the Crimea. This filmed interview [12min 40secs] with Elizabeth Anionwu, Emeritus professor of nursing at the University of West London and vice chairperson of the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal, describes how they overcame personal battles to get there.

Tweet4Mary's statue appeal! 

 via http://twitter.com/seacolestatue  

 

Click here for the latest fact sheet and Gift Aid form for the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal

Monday 25th January 2010: Independent newspaper article by Chris Green concerning Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal - click on this link:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/memorial-to-crimeas-black-nurse-in-danger-1877867.html

Monday 11th January 2010: Voice newspaper publish my piece: 'Let's get the facts right about Mary Seacole'.  Here's the link: http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=16861

For information about events concerning  Mary Seacole please click here to go to Events page.

I do hope that you are finding this site helpful!  One way that you can maintain the memory of Mary Seacole is to  make an online donation to the registered charity aiming to erect a memorial and promote educational work in schools etc - just  click on Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal [http://www.maryseacoleappeal.org.uk]  - many, many thanks for your support!  Professor Elizabeth Anionwu, Vice-Chairperson of the Appeal.

Click here for the very detailed Wikipedia entry on Mary Seacole [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Seacole]

 

RCN members can buy this short biography of Mary Seacole  for £2.99 [and non-members for  £3.99.

To order a copy of A short history of Mary Seacole by Professor Elizabeth Anionwu call RCN Direct on 0345 772 6100, then select option 3 and quote publication code 002 499.

 

 

 

 

A newly discovered photograph + signature of Mary Seacole - prints available online

An unknown photograph and a rare signature of Jamaican born Crimean War nursing heroine Mary Seacole (1805-1881) have been unearthed at one of England's oldest public schools. The exciting discovery, in an album devoted to the Crimean war, was made earlier this year by Dr Geoffrey Day, the current Fellows' and Eccles Librarian at Winchester College.

Dr Day notes that her photograph is an indication of her importance at the time: all the others in the album are of military leaders: Mary Seacole is the only non-combatant photograph.

Now the photograph is to be used to keep Mary Seacole's name alive. Winchester College, whilst retaining copyright of the image, has kindly allowed the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue  Appeal [MSMSA] sole use of it in order to raise funds for their appeal. 

In association with the MSMSA, prints of the photograph and signature, as well as a jigsaw featuring the image, can be purchased online via the Mary Evans Picture Library Prints Online site:

http://www.prints-online.com/pictures_1581575/detail.html

A percentage of the proceeds of the sale of this image are going towards the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal.

You can now read Mary Seacole's 1857 autobiography 'Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands' FREE online via either:

  1. A celebration of Women Writers - http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/seacole/adventures/adventures.html or
  2. The Project Gutenberg online library via: http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=588279

1st August 2006  Click here to read, in today's issue of The Times newspaper, an article by Stuart Flitton 'Seacole memorial a step closer'.

Mary Seacole's grave

I am often asked how people can  find Mary Seacole's grave - here are some tips:  Mary is buried in St Mary's Catholic Cemetery, 679-681 Harrow Road, Kensal Green, London NW10 5NY.  Nearest Tube Station is Kensal Green.  Tel: 020 8969 1145.  Office open 9-4.30pm - they have a fact sheet on Mary and are happy to direct to the grave.  Mary Seacole's grave number is 6830.  To find her grave once at the main Cemetery,  turn right into the Catholic Cemetery, carry on until you reach the chapel (on the right), turn left at the  chapel and follow the path to the first crossroad, then turn right and walk a small way (look for graves numbered around 6829)  and Mary's grave is over to the right - it stands out from many of the others as it has a renovated headstone. 

Saturday 7th November 2009 -  received this lovely email concerning Mary Seacole's grave - do also look at Maggie's wonderful photos on the flickr website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/maggiejones/4082619995/

Dear Professor Anionwu,


I recently read your biography of Mary Seacole.  I found her story fascinating as I didn't know a great deal about Mrs Seacole apart from her existence, which is what prompted me to buy the book.
 
It got me thinking about her grave and as a keen amateur photographer I thought I would go and take a couple of photo's. Prior to that I decided to do a  search for photo's of her grave on flickr, if you are not familiar with flickr it's the world's biggest photo hosting website and consequently a huge resource for searches. Well there was not a single photo of Mrs Seacole's grave so I decided that had to be rectified, which I've done today. I have posted seven photo's to the website, here's a link to one of them
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maggiejones/4082619995/
 
I also left a detailed description and link to a map to help find her grave which was so hard to locate, it took me and an hour and a half! I  placed a poppy in the arms of the teddy bear left by the school children, I thought it fitting for one to be on Mrs Seacole's grave especially as tomorrow is Remembrance Sunday.
With kind regards
Maggie Jones (Registered Nurse, St George's Hospital, Tooting, SW17.)

Print based on lost portrait of Mary Seacole  

Mary Seacole colour card mounted print 12" x 10" (approximately A4 size)  £53.62 (£63.00) from: National Portrait Gallery, www.npg.org.uk  St Martin's Place, London WC2H 0HE.  Tel 020 7306 0055.  They also produce postcards. 

Schools may like to visit www.npg.org.uk/live/edseacole/asp  for questions (and suggested answers) produced by the National Portrait Gallery to ask pupils about the Mary Seacole portrait.

See further down for more information about exhibition materials that are for hire or sale.

Music linked to Mary Seacole [please let me have more examples!]

February 2008: this new section has been added following a request from Mark Smith, a PGCE student, for information about music or songs related to Mary Seacole's life.  Mark has set up the following website:  www.primarymusicteacher.com

  • Mary Seacole Musical - script and lyrics by Bob Forrest-Webb, score and orchestration by Peter Gritton. click here to read a stunning review of the musical.   For more details contact [email protected].
  • Mary Seacole Opera - produced by multi-cultural opera and dance company Gye Nyame,  Richard Chew (composer), SuAndi (libretto). For more details visit: www.gyenyame.org.uk/maryseacole.html
  • Musical workshop: Medicine Woman by Opera Jam.   A 45 minute performance (plus an education pack) that uses story telling and song to introduce Mary Seacole to audiences of  7 - 11 years.   Available throughout October and beyond at a fee of £120.  For further details contact Adwoa-Shanti Dickson: 07803 123 121 or via email: [email protected] 

Videos, radio clips and films

All you need to know about Mary Seacole! See pupils from Southwold Primary School in Hackney perform their A-Z of Mary Seacole in a film posted on YouTube in June 2009:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUz5wFoslPE

Channel 4 Learning Ltd 1998 have produced a booklet about Mary Seacole and DVD in the Stop, Look, Listen Famous People series - the booklet is written by Moorcroft C,  Magnusson M and Wood, S. The DVD is  aimed at 5-7 year olds and includes a section on Mary Seacole.  A teacher called Kathy Clark wrote to us in September 2003 saying that it was "..very good for school children. My class thoroughly enjoyed it and retained important information."

Channel 4 also commissioned October Films to make a one hour film about Mary Seacole entitled The Real Angel of the Crimea which was broadcast on  26th June 2005. 

Listen to a radio interview with Ziggi Alexander and Audrey Dewjee, the editors of the 1984 edition of Mary Seacole's 1857 autobiography The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands that they gave on  BBC Woman's Hour  on 9th February 2004.  

22nd July 2005.  Good news from BBC Education: "Mary Seacole: A Hidden History" was broadcast earlier this year and will now be repeated as part of our programming for Secondary Schools in The Learning Zone on BBC 2 on Friday 28th October (Thursday night/Friday morning). A brief description of the programme is: " A documentary which aims to show how Mary Seacole, Jamaican-born nurse and heroine of the Crimean War has been excluded from its history. 1 x 30 minutes."  A brochure containing details of all our forthcoming History programmes for Secondary Schools for 2005 - 2006 has recently been mailed to all such schools in the UK so History teachers will be aware to record the programme. Details are available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/guide/

Watch a BBC Video Nation UK short film from 4th June 1996 when the late Mrs Connie Mark, then President of the Memorial Association, talks about Mary Seacole - it includes a clip from a Wreath-laying ceremony at the graveside of Mary Seacole.

Click here to view and listen to the poem to Mary Seacole recorded by David Neita for BBC London Video Nation. It is recorded in George Street, London  at the site of the Westminster Council Green Plaque that commemorates an address where Mary lived.

CBBC Magic Grandad history series has been broadcasting a 15 minute cartoon film about Mary Seacole that is aimed at  5 - 7 year olds undertaking Key Stage 1 / Level A Level B History.  First shown 17th October 2003 and has repeated showings e.g. last shown on Monday 16/05/05, CBBC Class TV, 10:30 - 10:45 and Monday 16/05/05, CBBC Class TV, 12:30 - 12:45.  Click above to be kept informed when further showings are planned.  A video containing 15 minute films about 4 historical including Mary Seacole plus a Teachers Pack costing £37.44 is available from BBC Schools Shop

The Doctress: Mary Seacole of Jamaica.  This 45 minute docu-drama was produced in 2003 for the Mary Seacole Foundation (Jamaica)  by Video for Change Jamaica.  Available in the UK for  £15  (to include postage and packing) c/o Hilary Nicholson, 89 Rusthall Ave, London W4 1BN Tel 020 8995 0629 or 020 7607 9661.  For purchase in Jamaica and other parts of the world contact Video for Change in Jamaica via [email protected]  or via PO Box 14, Kingston 2, Jamaica W.I.  

Exhibition materials,  exhibitions and workshops for hire or to visit

The Florence Nightingale Museum have produced a Mary Seacole Resource Pack  that was launched for the Mary Seacole Bicentenary in London 2005 - the pack contains six A4 laminated images. The reverse side of each image features information, questions and tasks for use in the classroom. Ideal for the UK National Curriculum, KS1 and KS2'. Cost £5.95.  For more  info tel: 020 7620 0374 or email: [email protected]

A Mary Seacole pictorial chart (70 x 100cm) produced by Pictorial Charts Educational Trust www.pcet.co.uk/ in collaboration with The Florence Nightingale Museum London is available for purchase.

Mary Seacole Poster  £7 + £1.50 pp from The Education Partnership Co:   [email protected]

Mary Seacole’s trunk - a resource for schools.  £395.  For more details visit:  www.realhistories.org.uk/moreDetails.php?resourceID=213

Cleo Sylvestre is an actress who does a wonderful performance as Mary Seacole, in costume and using the words from Mary's own autobiography.  When I saw her perform it felt as though I was in the presence of Mary!  Can be contacted via The Rosemary Branch Theatre, 2 Shepperton Road, London N1 3DT.  020 7704 6665    http://www.rosemarybranch.co.uk/theatre_forgottenwoman.asp

Examples of useful websites concerning Mary Seacole

General

For a very detailed Wikipedia entry on Mary Seacole: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Seacole

BBC History contains information about Mary Seacole in their Historic Figures section.

BBC Schools Famous People has an interactive section about Mary Seacole.

Mary Seacole 2005  A bicentennial tribute by Ziggi Alexander, co-editor of the 1984 edition of Mary's autobiography.

Moving Here  200 years of migration to England.  This site was created in July 2003 and contains various images and texts that record the migration experiences over the last 200 years. 

Distinguished Women of Past and Present.  Contains a short article about Mary Jane Seacole.

See how the life of Mary Seacole is being promoted as a theme for UK schoolchildren within the National Curriculum by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA)  http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_7966.aspx

The Florence Nightingale Museum website has a section devoted to Mary Seacole - www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/cms/index.php/mary-seacole

Nursing

Black Nurses in History  A guide from the USA based UMDNJ and Coriell Research Library.

General articles online
Introduction to article 'The invitation that never came: Mary Seacole in the Crimea  by Helen Rappaport in History Today 55 (2)  February 2005. http://www.historytoday.com/helen-rappaport/invitation-never-came-mary-seacole-after-crimea

The heritage of Mary Seacole - a series of 5 articles by John Barham, military historian.  They were written between 6th August and 26th November 2004.

Jason Young, Founder and President of the Tooting and Balham Writers' Circle is extremely committed to seeing Mary Seacole represented in literature and the arts.  He has written a short story on Mary Seacole and the revised version (2004) can now be accessed online via www.writers-circles.com/tooting1.html   Watch out for his play!

Notions of voluntary identity and citizenship in the Wonderful adventures of Mrs Seacole in many lands by Emilian Kavalski, 2003 in Jouvert 7(2)

Helen J Seaton (2002) Another Florence Nightingale?  The discovery of Mary Seacole via the Victorianweb site.

Organisations

Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal [ www.maryseacoleappeal.org.uk/]  - click on this link if you are interested in supporting the campaign to have a statue of Mary Seacole in central London by donating  online to the appeal, which is a registered charity. Thank you for your support!

Mary Seacole Memorial Association (MSMA)   for further details about this organization  contact the Royal College of Nursing, 20 Cavendish Square, London W1M 0AB.  Email:  [email protected] or Charmaine Case, Secretary of MSMA: [email protected]

Last updated: 17/05/2012
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