Abstract

Mary Seacole was a British-Jamaican nurse and humanitarian whose medical knowledge and courage saved lives during the Crimean War. Trained in both Caribbean healing traditions and Western medicine, she provided frontline care where formal systems failed. Denied official recognition because of her race and gender, Seacole funded her own journey to the battlefield, establishing the British Hotel near Balaclava to treat wounded soldiers under fire. For decades, her contributions were marginalised by colonial histories that privileged white European figures. Remembering Mary Seacole challenges whose knowledge is valued and whose contributions are made visible.