Women in History--Mary Seacole

Born in Jamaica in 1805, Mary Seacole (nee Grant), was the daughter of a Black Creole boarding house owner and a Scottish Army officer. Like many Creole doctress women, Mary waS taught African herbal medicine arts from her mother. In addition to understanding traditional herbal medicine, she gleaned an understanding of Western medicine from the British military physicians who were stationed on the island colony. Mother Seacole, as she was affectionately called, garnered an outstanding reputation as a compassionate nurse and a competent doctress as she cared for sick and injured British officers and their families (Seacole, 1988). Widowed by age 40, Seacole\u27s longing for adventur