{"id":91068,"date":"2016-07-26T01:02:35","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T01:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2016\/07\/26\/highlybredlikeahilltopbakery\/"},"modified":"2016-07-26T01:02:35","modified_gmt":"2016-07-26T01:02:35","slug":"highlybredlikeahilltopbakery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2016\/07\/26\/highlybredlikeahilltopbakery\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/highlybredlikeahilltopbakery.tumblr.com\/post\/146714503746\" target=\"_blank\">highlybredlikeahilltopbakery<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/blackbritishreader.tumblr.com\/post\/146703246560\" target=\"_blank\">blackbritishreader<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><figure class=\"tmblr-full\"><img src=\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/184adb12e53b329a0a3ef3c719238063\/tumblr_inline_o9l6g2DK9A1tovx3k_540.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Mary Seacole statue unveiled in London<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The UK\u2019s first memorial statue of a named black woman, Mary Seacole, has been unveiled in London.<\/p>\n<p>She was a Jamaican-born nurse who cared for wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War in the 19th Century.<\/p>\n<p>The statue\u2019s completion follows <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p03zsk0f\" target=\"_blank\">a 12-year campaign,<\/a> which raised \u00a3500,000 to honour Mrs Seacole.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.maryseacoleappeal.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">Campaigners<\/a> said the bronze provided recognition of the contribution made by black and ethnic minority people throughout British history.<\/p>\n<p>Actress and broadcaster Baroness Benjamin unveiled the statue.<\/p>\n<p>Emeritus Professor of Nursing Elizabeth Anionwu said the unveiling was \u201cextremely significant\u201d because it was the first statue of a named black woman in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor somebody like myself, a nurse of mixed heritage &#8211; Mary was Jamaican-Scottish, I\u2019m Nigerian-Irish heritage &#8211; there\u2019s a link there. I have an 8-year-old granddaughter, and at last youngsters will be able to see a beautiful monument that they can identify with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>\u2018Aid and succour\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The statue, which was created by sculptor Martin Jennings and stands opposite the Houses of Parliament in the grounds of St Thomas\u2019 Hospital, also features a memorial disc.<\/p>\n<p>It is inscribed with words written in 1857 by The Times\u2019 Crimean War correspondent, Sir William Howard Russell: \u201cI trust that England will not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out her wounded to aid and succour them, and who performed the last offices for some of her illustrious dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In November, Chancellor George Osborne announced the Treasury would contribute \u00a3240,000 to help pay for the installation.<\/p>\n<p><b>Mary Seacole, 1805-1881<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Born to a Scottish soldier and a Jamaican woman in 1805, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/history\/historic_figures\/seacole_mary.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Mary Jane Grant<\/a>learned her nursing skills from her mother, who kept a boarding house for invalid soldiers<\/li>\n<li>She and her family had few civil rights &#8211; they could not vote, hold public office or enter the professions<\/li>\n<li>Married Edwin Seacole in 1836 &#8211; he died eight years later<\/li>\n<li>She travelled widely visiting the Caribbean, Central America and the UK. On these trips she studied traditional and European medical ideas<\/li>\n<li>In 1854, she travelled to England and approached the War Office, asking to be sent as an Army nurse to the Crimea<\/li>\n<li>She was refused but went anyway. Once there, she established the British Hotel near Balaclava to provide \u201ccomfortable quarters for sick and convalescent officers\u201d and also nursed the wounded on the battlefield &#8211; sometimes under the hail of gunfire<\/li>\n<li>She became known as \u201cMother Seacole\u201d and, at the time, her reputation rivalled that of Florence Nightingale<\/li>\n<li>After the war she returned to England destitute and in ill health<\/li>\n<li>In July 1857 a benefit festival was organised to raise money for her, attracting thousands of people<\/li>\n<li>She died on 14 May 1881<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cIf you have a statue for Florence Nightingale, you should have one for Mary Seacole,\u201d said the historian Dr Ron Ramdin, who wrote her biography.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe had no privileges. She had to make her own way, which in the 19th Century for a black woman was very difficult.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact that when she met Florence Nightingale and she did not get the job nursing in the Scutari hospital didn\u2019t faze her. She continued on her way to the front.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Relevant Extra History<\/p>\n<figure class=\"tmblr-embed tmblr-full\"><\/figure>\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xT9BTuBtCJs\" target=\"_blank\">x<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>highlybredlikeahilltopbakery: blackbritishreader: Mary Seacole statue unveiled in London The UK\u2019s first memorial statue of a named black woman, Mary Seacole, has been unveiled in London. She was a Jamaican-born nurse who cared for wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War in the 19th Century. The statue\u2019s completion follows a 12-year campaign, which raised \u00a3500,000 to &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2016\/07\/26\/highlybredlikeahilltopbakery\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[44,11527,5151,4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91068"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91068\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}