top of page
WHO AM I?
This body of work was women who inspired me with their persistent pursuit of justice. These paintings area acrylic on canvas, 7"x14".
This work has been shown at several venues, including Getty Images Headquarters, Bainbridge Island Public Library, and Ivy Creek Elementary school.
LINKS
1. Hawa Abdi
2. Bella Abzug
3. Pearl Buck
4. Susan Burton
5. Shirley Chisholm
6. Shirin Ebadi
7. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
8. Fannie Lou Hamer
9. Wangari Maathai
10. Margaret Mead
11. Rigoberta Menchú
12. Golda Meir
13. Kimberley Motley
14. Mary Seacole
1. Hawa Abdi
1947 - 2020
"I’m not leaving my hospital. If I die, I will die with my people and my dignity. You are young and you are a man, but what have you done for your society?"
Dr. Hawa Abdi heard gunshots, looked out the window and saw some 750 militants. “Why are you running this hospital?” a gunman demanded. “You are old. And you are a woman!” The gunmen belonged to one of Somalia’s militant groups, and put Dr. Abdi under house arrest for five days, shutting down the hospital. It ended when hundreds of women, from the refugee camp on Dr. Abdi’s property, began a protest and forced the militants out.
Dr. Hawa Abdi Diblaawe was born in 1947 in Mogadishu. Her mother died in childbirth and Dr. Abdi raised her four sisters, but she never lost sight of her dreams. “My father … made sure I had the chance to become a doctor.” Dr. Abdi studied medicine in Kiev and became Somalia’s first female gynecologist, then completed a law degree at the Somali National University.
She opened a clinic on her family’s ancestral land, using the profits from farming to provide free health care. When the civil war began, Dr. Abdi started housing and feeding her employees and then her countrymen; providing shelter to all those who came. Dr. Abdi’s land eventually housed more than 90,000 refugees, mostly women and children.
"I’m not leaving my hospital. If I die, I will die with my people and my dignity. You are young and you are a man, but what have you done for your society?"
Dr. Hawa Abdi heard gunshots, looked out the window and saw some 750 militants. “Why are you running this hospital?” a gunman demanded. “You are old. And you are a woman!” The gunmen belonged to one of Somalia’s militant groups, and put Dr. Abdi under house arrest for five days, shutting down the hospital. It ended when hundreds of women, from the refugee camp on Dr. Abdi’s property, began a protest and forced the militants out.
Dr. Hawa Abdi Diblaawe was born in 1947 in Mogadishu. Her mother died in childbirth and Dr. Abdi raised her four sisters, but she never lost sight of her dreams. “My father … made sure I had the chance to become a doctor.” Dr. Abdi studied medicine in Kiev and became Somalia’s first female gynecologist, then completed a law degree at the Somali National University.
She opened a clinic on her family’s ancestral land, using the profits from farming to provide free health care. When the civil war began, Dr. Abdi started housing and feeding her employees and then her countrymen; providing shelter to all those who came. Dr. Abdi’s land eventually housed more than 90,000 refugees, mostly women and children.
2. Bella Abzug
1920 - 1998
"The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be the arrangement of your chromosomes."
“Battling Bella” Abzug was born in the Bronx, NY and earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1947 after being rejected by Harvard because of her gender.
As a young lawyer, Ms. Abzug defended Willie McGee, an African American man accused of raping a white woman in Mississippi. Mr McGee was convicted under questionable circumstances and this was a capital crime. Despite death threats, Mabuz delayed his death sentence. Ultimately her efforts failed, and McGee was executed. Ms Abzug also defended many people accused of communist activities by Senator McCarthy. Ms Abzug specialized in labor, tenants’ and civil rights.
Eventually she became involved in politics; her motto for her 1970 congressional run was “This woman’s place is in the house—the House of Representatives.” She became one of the twelve women in the House. She worked for anti-nuclear, peace and the women’s movements. She helped establish the National WOmen’s Political Caucus. President Ford appointed her to chair the National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year and she led President Carter’s Commission on Women.
"The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be the arrangement of your chromosomes."
“Battling Bella” Abzug was born in the Bronx, NY and earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1947 after being rejected by Harvard because of her gender.
As a young lawyer, Ms. Abzug defended Willie McGee, an African American man accused of raping a white woman in Mississippi. Mr McGee was convicted under questionable circumstances and this was a capital crime. Despite death threats, Mabuz delayed his death sentence. Ultimately her efforts failed, and McGee was executed. Ms Abzug also defended many people accused of communist activities by Senator McCarthy. Ms Abzug specialized in labor, tenants’ and civil rights.
Eventually she became involved in politics; her motto for her 1970 congressional run was “This woman’s place is in the house—the House of Representatives.” She became one of the twelve women in the House. She worked for anti-nuclear, peace and the women’s movements. She helped establish the National WOmen’s Political Caucus. President Ford appointed her to chair the National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year and she led President Carter’s Commission on Women.
3. Pearl Buck
1892 - 1973
"You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings."
The daughter of missionaries, Pearl Buck spent most of her childhood in China. She did not understand the racist attitudes of her fellow students; especially when few could speak Chinese. Her parents believed that the Chinese were their equals and she was raised in a bilingual environment.
As a young woman, Ms. Buck taught English literature at the University of Nanking where she wrote The Good Earth. It soon became the best-sellling fiction book in the U.S. and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. She moved to the United States in 1935 and through writing became a prominent advocate of the rights of women and minority groups. In 1938, she became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
In 1949 Buck co-founded Welcome House, Inc., the first international, interracial adoption agency; existing adoption services considered Asian and Mixed-race children unadoptable. She established the Pearl S. Buck Foundation to address poverty and discrimination faced by children in Asian countries. Buck raised consciousness on topics such as racism, sex discrimination and the plight of the thousands of babies and women abandoned by American soldiers who had been based in Asia.
"You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings."
The daughter of missionaries, Pearl Buck spent most of her childhood in China. She did not understand the racist attitudes of her fellow students; especially when few could speak Chinese. Her parents believed that the Chinese were their equals and she was raised in a bilingual environment.
As a young woman, Ms. Buck taught English literature at the University of Nanking where she wrote The Good Earth. It soon became the best-sellling fiction book in the U.S. and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. She moved to the United States in 1935 and through writing became a prominent advocate of the rights of women and minority groups. In 1938, she became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
In 1949 Buck co-founded Welcome House, Inc., the first international, interracial adoption agency; existing adoption services considered Asian and Mixed-race children unadoptable. She established the Pearl S. Buck Foundation to address poverty and discrimination faced by children in Asian countries. Buck raised consciousness on topics such as racism, sex discrimination and the plight of the thousands of babies and women abandoned by American soldiers who had been based in Asia.
4. Susan Burton
"Each time I left prison I left with the resolve to get my life together, to get a job, to get back on track. And each time the task became more and more and more daunting."
In 1982 Susan Burton’s son was accidentally killed by a police cruiser. Consumed with grief, she turned to alcohol and drugs, eventually becoming addicted to crack cocaine. She was arrested and went in and out of jail six times during the 1980s-90s. Each time she was released she had little money and no social security card or other ID.
At her last release, a prison guard told her that he would see her “again soon”. Determined to prove him wrong, Burton found a drug treatment facility away from her old neighborhood and was able to stop taking drugs.
Knowing what it was like to get out of prison with no money and no safe place to live, Burton started and organization for women in the same position. Since it’s founding in 1998, A New Way of Life has
• Provided housing and service for over 900 women
• Helped over 170 women reunite with their children
• Worked to restore the civil rights of formerly incarcerated people by organizing and advocation for social change and personal transformation
• Founded Women Organizing for Justice, a leadership project that has trained more than 100 formerly incarcerated women in advocacy.
In 1982 Susan Burton’s son was accidentally killed by a police cruiser. Consumed with grief, she turned to alcohol and drugs, eventually becoming addicted to crack cocaine. She was arrested and went in and out of jail six times during the 1980s-90s. Each time she was released she had little money and no social security card or other ID.
At her last release, a prison guard told her that he would see her “again soon”. Determined to prove him wrong, Burton found a drug treatment facility away from her old neighborhood and was able to stop taking drugs.
Knowing what it was like to get out of prison with no money and no safe place to live, Burton started and organization for women in the same position. Since it’s founding in 1998, A New Way of Life has
• Provided housing and service for over 900 women
• Helped over 170 women reunite with their children
• Worked to restore the civil rights of formerly incarcerated people by organizing and advocation for social change and personal transformation
• Founded Women Organizing for Justice, a leadership project that has trained more than 100 formerly incarcerated women in advocacy.
5. Shirley Chisholm
1924 - 2005
"You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas."
An American politician, educator, and author, Ms Chisolm became the first African-American woman elected to the United States Congress, and represented New York’s 12th Congressional District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983.
In 1972, Chisholm became the first major-party black candidate to run for President of the United States, in the 1972 U.S. presidential election, making her the first woman ever to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. During the campaign, she survived three assassination attempts. Decades later, observers would credit Chisholm’s 1972 campaign as paving the way for Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Kamal Harris in their bids for the presidency.
"You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas."
An American politician, educator, and author, Ms Chisolm became the first African-American woman elected to the United States Congress, and represented New York’s 12th Congressional District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983.
In 1972, Chisholm became the first major-party black candidate to run for President of the United States, in the 1972 U.S. presidential election, making her the first woman ever to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. During the campaign, she survived three assassination attempts. Decades later, observers would credit Chisholm’s 1972 campaign as paving the way for Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Kamal Harris in their bids for the presidency.
6. Shirin Ebadi
"Human rights is a universal standard. It is a component of every religion and every civilization."
Born in Iran, Ms Ebadi grew up on Tehran, and became the first woman president of the Tehran City Court and the first female judge in Iran. Ms Ebadi was demoted to a secretarial position after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Eventually, she retired to become a lawyer.
Ms Ebadi took child abuse cases, women’s rights cases and the cases of disidents. She handled the case of a teenage girls who was gang-raped and murdered. The girl’s family became homeless trying to cover the costs of the execution of the perpetrators; in Iran, the victim’s family is responsible to pay to execute the perpetrator, thus restoring the girls “honor”. Ms Ebadi did not “win” the case, but she brought international attention to the law.
In 2003, Ms. Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace for her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children. The selection committee praised her as a “courageous person.”
She started to receive death threats while defending Iran’s minority Bahai community. In 2009, these threats escalated and she sought refuge in the UK. Her daughter, husband, and other family members were detained and tortured.
Born in Iran, Ms Ebadi grew up on Tehran, and became the first woman president of the Tehran City Court and the first female judge in Iran. Ms Ebadi was demoted to a secretarial position after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Eventually, she retired to become a lawyer.
Ms Ebadi took child abuse cases, women’s rights cases and the cases of disidents. She handled the case of a teenage girls who was gang-raped and murdered. The girl’s family became homeless trying to cover the costs of the execution of the perpetrators; in Iran, the victim’s family is responsible to pay to execute the perpetrator, thus restoring the girls “honor”. Ms Ebadi did not “win” the case, but she brought international attention to the law.
In 2003, Ms. Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace for her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children. The selection committee praised her as a “courageous person.”
She started to receive death threats while defending Iran’s minority Bahai community. In 2009, these threats escalated and she sought refuge in the UK. Her daughter, husband, and other family members were detained and tortured.
7. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
1933 - 2020
"My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent."
In 1956, when Ruth Bader Ginsburg was enrolled at Harvard Law School, she was one of nine women in a class of about five hundred. The Dean of Harvard Law reportedly asked the female law students, “How do you justify taking a spot from a qualified man?”
When her husband took a job in New York City, Ginsburg transferred to Columbia Law School and became the first woman to be on two major law reviews: The Harvard Law Review and Columbia Law Review. In 1959, she earned her law degree at Columbia and tied for first in her class. She eventually taught at Rutgers School of Law and Columbia Law School, where she because the first tenured female professor.
Ginsburg advocated for the advancement of gender equality and women’s rights, winning multiple victories before the Supreme Court. She was a volunteer lawyer, general counsel and eventually board member of the American Civil Liberties Union.
In 1980, President Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit where she served until her elevation to the Supreme Court.
"My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent."
In 1956, when Ruth Bader Ginsburg was enrolled at Harvard Law School, she was one of nine women in a class of about five hundred. The Dean of Harvard Law reportedly asked the female law students, “How do you justify taking a spot from a qualified man?”
When her husband took a job in New York City, Ginsburg transferred to Columbia Law School and became the first woman to be on two major law reviews: The Harvard Law Review and Columbia Law Review. In 1959, she earned her law degree at Columbia and tied for first in her class. She eventually taught at Rutgers School of Law and Columbia Law School, where she because the first tenured female professor.
Ginsburg advocated for the advancement of gender equality and women’s rights, winning multiple victories before the Supreme Court. She was a volunteer lawyer, general counsel and eventually board member of the American Civil Liberties Union.
In 1980, President Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit where she served until her elevation to the Supreme Court.
8. Fannie Lou Hamer
1917 - 1977
"One day I know the struggle will change. There’s got to be a change—not only for Mississippi, not only for the people of the United States, but people all over the world."
Ms. Hamer was one of 20 children, she grew up a sharecropper. In 1962 at the age of 44, she went to register to vote and was immediately fired from her job and told to leave the plantation she had called home for 18 years.
She became field organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the following years was kidnapped and beaten, suffering permanent kidney damage. During the course of her activist career, Hamer was threatened, arrested, beaten, and shot at.
In 1964, Hamer helped found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which was established in opposition to her state’s all-white delegation to went to that year’s Democratic convention. She brought the civil rights struggle in Mississippi to the attention of the entire nation during a televised session at the convention. Hamer’s story was broadcast on all the major networks.
"One day I know the struggle will change. There’s got to be a change—not only for Mississippi, not only for the people of the United States, but people all over the world."
Ms. Hamer was one of 20 children, she grew up a sharecropper. In 1962 at the age of 44, she went to register to vote and was immediately fired from her job and told to leave the plantation she had called home for 18 years.
She became field organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the following years was kidnapped and beaten, suffering permanent kidney damage. During the course of her activist career, Hamer was threatened, arrested, beaten, and shot at.
In 1964, Hamer helped found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which was established in opposition to her state’s all-white delegation to went to that year’s Democratic convention. She brought the civil rights struggle in Mississippi to the attention of the entire nation during a televised session at the convention. Hamer’s story was broadcast on all the major networks.
9. Wangari Maathai
1940 - 1987
"When an individual is protesting society’s refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him."
Kenyan Professor Maathai embraced the idea of community-based tree planting as a means of female empowerment, poverty reduction, and environmental conservation. She developed this idea into the Green Belt Movement.
In 1989, the government developed a plan to construct a 60-story business complex in Uhuru Park. Dr. Maathai opposed the idea, equating the construction to building malls in Central Park.
The government-backed media published articles calling Maathai a “crazy woman”. The Parliament called the Green Belt Movement a “bogus organization” and its members “a bunch of divorcees.” Kenyan President Moi stated that those who opposed the project had “insects in their heads.” The President told Maathai to “be a proper woman in the African tradition and respect men and be quiet.”
Maathai was forced to vacate her office, and the Green Belt Movement was audited in an apparent attempt to shut it down. Her protests, the government’s response - and the international media coverage it garnered - led foreign investors to cancel the project in January 1990.
"When an individual is protesting society’s refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him."
Kenyan Professor Maathai embraced the idea of community-based tree planting as a means of female empowerment, poverty reduction, and environmental conservation. She developed this idea into the Green Belt Movement.
In 1989, the government developed a plan to construct a 60-story business complex in Uhuru Park. Dr. Maathai opposed the idea, equating the construction to building malls in Central Park.
The government-backed media published articles calling Maathai a “crazy woman”. The Parliament called the Green Belt Movement a “bogus organization” and its members “a bunch of divorcees.” Kenyan President Moi stated that those who opposed the project had “insects in their heads.” The President told Maathai to “be a proper woman in the African tradition and respect men and be quiet.”
Maathai was forced to vacate her office, and the Green Belt Movement was audited in an apparent attempt to shut it down. Her protests, the government’s response - and the international media coverage it garnered - led foreign investors to cancel the project in January 1990.
10. Margaret Mead
1901 - 1978
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead was a cultural anthropologist and best-selling author, renowned for her work in the south Pacific and southeast Asia. She popularized anthropology and polarized the academic community with her work. Her focus on developmental stages and adolescence in various cultures made her a respected and controversial academic.
Before Ms. Mead reached her teens, she accompanied her sociologies mother on field trips to New Jersey, engaging in sociological research among Italian immigrants. Her mother—a feminist suffragette and staunch opponent of nativist and racist attitudes—made it a point to expose her child to other ethnic groups and to instill in her children awareness of and respect for human equality and differences.
Ms. Mead thought in terms of the interconnectedness of various aspects of human life. Food production is not separated from ritual and belief, politics is not separated from childrearing or art. She believed we could learn from other, even “primitive” societies, and apply that knowledge to modern life. She understood that we could learn from each other and saw human diversity as a resource, not handicap.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead was a cultural anthropologist and best-selling author, renowned for her work in the south Pacific and southeast Asia. She popularized anthropology and polarized the academic community with her work. Her focus on developmental stages and adolescence in various cultures made her a respected and controversial academic.
Before Ms. Mead reached her teens, she accompanied her sociologies mother on field trips to New Jersey, engaging in sociological research among Italian immigrants. Her mother—a feminist suffragette and staunch opponent of nativist and racist attitudes—made it a point to expose her child to other ethnic groups and to instill in her children awareness of and respect for human equality and differences.
Ms. Mead thought in terms of the interconnectedness of various aspects of human life. Food production is not separated from ritual and belief, politics is not separated from childrearing or art. She believed we could learn from other, even “primitive” societies, and apply that knowledge to modern life. She understood that we could learn from each other and saw human diversity as a resource, not handicap.
11. Rigoberta Menchú
1959 -
"The world is not going to change, unless we change ourselves."
Rigoberta Menchú was born to a poor indigenous family in the north-central Guatemalan province of El Quiché.
Menchú worked as an activist campaigning against human rights violations committed by the Guatemalan armed forces during the country’s civil war, which lasted from 1960 to 1996. Her father, Vincent Menchú, was a member of the guerrilla movement Guerrilla Army of the Poor and died in 1980 during the Burning of the Spanish Embassy after being captured and tortured for his role in organizing against abusive landowners.
Since the Guatemalan Civil War ended, Menchú has campaigned to have members of the Guatemalan political and military establishment tried in Spanish courts. In January 2015, a Guatemalan court convicted the commander of a former police investigations uinit of murder, attempted murder, and crimes against humanity for his role in the embassy attach, in which Menchú’s father died.
"The world is not going to change, unless we change ourselves."
Rigoberta Menchú was born to a poor indigenous family in the north-central Guatemalan province of El Quiché.
Menchú worked as an activist campaigning against human rights violations committed by the Guatemalan armed forces during the country’s civil war, which lasted from 1960 to 1996. Her father, Vincent Menchú, was a member of the guerrilla movement Guerrilla Army of the Poor and died in 1980 during the Burning of the Spanish Embassy after being captured and tortured for his role in organizing against abusive landowners.
Since the Guatemalan Civil War ended, Menchú has campaigned to have members of the Guatemalan political and military establishment tried in Spanish courts. In January 2015, a Guatemalan court convicted the commander of a former police investigations uinit of murder, attempted murder, and crimes against humanity for his role in the embassy attach, in which Menchú’s father died.
12. Golda Meir
1898 - 1978
"A leader who doesn’t hesitate before he sends his nation in to battle is not fit to be a leader."
In 1938, President Roosevelt called the Evian Conference to discuss Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. Ms Meir was a young politician from Palestine. Delegates from the 32 countries expressed regret, saying they could not admit the refugees. Meir said, “There is only one thing I hope to see before I die and that is that my people should not need expressions of sympathy anymore.”
In 1948, Meir was a signatory of the Israeli Declaration of Independence saying “After I signed, I cried. When I studied American history as a schoolgirl and I read about those who signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence, I couldn’t imagine these were real people doing something real.”
The next day, Israel was attacked; the 1948 Arab-Israel War. During thie war, Israel stopped the combined Arab assault, launched a series of military offensives and defeated the invading Arab armies.
"A leader who doesn’t hesitate before he sends his nation in to battle is not fit to be a leader."
In 1938, President Roosevelt called the Evian Conference to discuss Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. Ms Meir was a young politician from Palestine. Delegates from the 32 countries expressed regret, saying they could not admit the refugees. Meir said, “There is only one thing I hope to see before I die and that is that my people should not need expressions of sympathy anymore.”
In 1948, Meir was a signatory of the Israeli Declaration of Independence saying “After I signed, I cried. When I studied American history as a schoolgirl and I read about those who signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence, I couldn’t imagine these were real people doing something real.”
The next day, Israel was attacked; the 1948 Arab-Israel War. During thie war, Israel stopped the combined Arab assault, launched a series of military offensives and defeated the invading Arab armies.
13. Kimberley Motley
"The laws are ours - no matter your ethnicity, nationality, gender, race - they belong to us."
Kimberley Motley is an American International Attorney of African-American and Korean descent. She is a mother of three and former beauty contestant.
She is the first non-Afghan attorney to litigate in Afghanistan. She is licensed and has permission to practice in Afghanistan, Wisconsin, the U.S. Supreme Court, Dubai International Financial Courts, and the International Criminal Courts. Admirers have written that Motley, “must appear to be someone from outer space. She acknowledges this but declares that she gets respect… She has proven to be a very effective and tenacious fighter.”
One notable case for Ms. Motley was that of a young woman named Sahar Gul. Ms. Gul’s brother sold her at age 13, as a “bride”. Her new in-laws tried to force her into prostitution through torture; they pulled out her fingernails, drugged and raped her, sexually assaulted her with hot pokers and locked her in a cellar for months. “My brother sold me like a sheep to that family,” Sahar Gul said. Ms. Motley won 10-year sentences against the in-laws for domestic violence and civil damages for Ms. Gul.
Kimberley Motley is an American International Attorney of African-American and Korean descent. She is a mother of three and former beauty contestant.
She is the first non-Afghan attorney to litigate in Afghanistan. She is licensed and has permission to practice in Afghanistan, Wisconsin, the U.S. Supreme Court, Dubai International Financial Courts, and the International Criminal Courts. Admirers have written that Motley, “must appear to be someone from outer space. She acknowledges this but declares that she gets respect… She has proven to be a very effective and tenacious fighter.”
One notable case for Ms. Motley was that of a young woman named Sahar Gul. Ms. Gul’s brother sold her at age 13, as a “bride”. Her new in-laws tried to force her into prostitution through torture; they pulled out her fingernails, drugged and raped her, sexually assaulted her with hot pokers and locked her in a cellar for months. “My brother sold me like a sheep to that family,” Sahar Gul said. Ms. Motley won 10-year sentences against the in-laws for domestic violence and civil damages for Ms. Gul.
14. Mary Seacole
1805 - 1881
"… an the grateful words and smile which rewarded me for binding up a wound or giving a cooling drink was a pleasure worth risking life for at any time."
Mary Seacole’s Scottish father and her Jamaican mother taught her about herbal medicine, they kept a boarding house for invalid soldiers in Jamaica. Growing up, Mary’s family were technically “free,” being of mixed race, but they had few civil rights.
A business woman, she visited Central America and Britain. She set up hotels over the years in several locations to fund her travels.
In 1854, Mary asked the War Office to be sent as an army nurse to the Crimea to help wounded soldiers; the War Office refused. Undeterred she funded her own trip and established the British Hotel, providing a mess-table and comfortable quarters for sick and convalescent officers. She attended the wounded on the battlefield, sometimes under fire, becoming known as “Mother Seacole”.
After the war she returned to England ill and destitute. Soldiers wrote to the press of her heroism, and in 1857 a benefit was organised to raise money for her, attracting thousands of people. She was post-humously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in 1991 and was voted the Greatest Black Briton.
Scroll to Top of Page
"… an the grateful words and smile which rewarded me for binding up a wound or giving a cooling drink was a pleasure worth risking life for at any time."
Mary Seacole’s Scottish father and her Jamaican mother taught her about herbal medicine, they kept a boarding house for invalid soldiers in Jamaica. Growing up, Mary’s family were technically “free,” being of mixed race, but they had few civil rights.
A business woman, she visited Central America and Britain. She set up hotels over the years in several locations to fund her travels.
In 1854, Mary asked the War Office to be sent as an army nurse to the Crimea to help wounded soldiers; the War Office refused. Undeterred she funded her own trip and established the British Hotel, providing a mess-table and comfortable quarters for sick and convalescent officers. She attended the wounded on the battlefield, sometimes under fire, becoming known as “Mother Seacole”.
After the war she returned to England ill and destitute. Soldiers wrote to the press of her heroism, and in 1857 a benefit was organised to raise money for her, attracting thousands of people. She was post-humously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in 1991 and was voted the Greatest Black Briton.
Scroll to Top of Page
Abdi
Mary
bottom of page