THE NURSE Mary Seacole — What'shername

Mary Jane Seacole c 1850s
image in the public domain

What would it look like to live a life without fear? Mary Seacole’s story may hold the answer! She spent her life rushing from one catastrophe to the next, doing anything she could to ease human suffering without a single thought for her own safety. From disease-infested Panamanian goldmines to the horrific battlefield hospitals of Crimea, Mary spent her life being “relentlessly useful” …but how on earth did she do it?

Olivia interviews historian Helen Rappaport, author of In Search of Mary Seacole.

Thank you to Penguin Audio for allowing us to use selections from their delightful audiobook production of Mary’s memoir The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, which was performed by Yasmin Mwanza. You can also find the full text of Mary’s memoir online here.

A sketch of Mary Seacole by Crimean war artist William Simpson, c. 1855

A sketch of Mary Seacole’s ‘British Hotel’ in Crimea, by Lady Alicia Blackwood

Mary Seacole, depicted as an admirer of Punch along with her British Crimean War patients in “Our Own Vivandière” (Punch, 30 May 1857).

Statue of Mary Seacole by Martin Jennings, at St Thomas’ Hospital, London
photo by Owen Blacker

Cover of Mary Seacole’s memoir, The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands.

Helen Rappaport is the author of In Search of Mary Seacole, The Romanov Sisters, The Last Days of the Romanovs, and many other critically acclaimed titles. She has been a full-time writer for more than twenty-three years, and in 2003 discovered and purchased an 1869 portrait of Mary Seacole that now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, sparking a long investigation into Seacole’s life and career.

Music featured in this episode included:

“Ghost Town” and “Sonora” by Quincas Moreira

“Why Are You Crying?” by Jeff Cuno

“Momo Do” by the Mini Vandals

“Love Letters” by Aaron Kenny

“Dream Escape” by The Tides

and “The Roast Beef of Old England” performed by the US Marine Corps Band

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