3. Before she was famous... Born in 12 May 1820 in Florence, Italy Died 13 August 1910 Privileged upbringing, well educated Persuaded her family to let her train as a nurse as she believed it was her calling from God who ‘spoke to’ her not long before her 17th birthday, and “called [her] to His service”
4. Career beginnings Nightingale worked hard to become a nurse; against the expectation of her – to become a wife and a mother She struggled to study arts and sciences against the restrictive societal code for affluent English women
5. Personal Life Proposed to by politician and poet Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton Declined to focus on nursing
6. Nursing Father gave her £500 a year to live Appointed to look after nurses in Turkey by Minister of War, Sidney Herbert – the two became life-long friends (although she was accused of ‘hastening his death’ in 1861) Arrived at Scutari in November 1854 – stationed a few hundred miles from the front line
7. In the Crimea Wrote of disgusting conditions, poor hygiene and supplies Credited with improving medical sanitation However some argued, at the time, that things were improving when she arrived, or weren’t as bad as Nightingale made out
8. Return to England On return to England in 1856, she disappeared from the public eye – probably due to post-traumatic stress and dealing with what she had seen Wrote a book ‘Notes for Nursing’ and established the Nightingale Training School in 1869
9. Legacy Nursing a respectable female occupation Lady with the Lamp ‘Nightingale Pledge’ made by Nurses 12 May is International Nurses Day ‘Florence Nightingale Syndrome’ Suggestions for Thought’
10. Legacy Statue in Waterloo Place, Westminster House now a National Trust museum Films have been made about her since 1912 Objected to photographs, there are a few rare ones Invented the Pie Chart (Seriously. I know!!)
12. Born in 1805 in Kingston, Jamaica Died on 14 May 1881 Father – white Scottish officer Mother – free Creole woman and a ‘Doctress’ Proud of her Scottish heritage Referred to herself often as a ‘Creole’ which generally meant ‘racially neutral’ or refers to the children of white settlers
13. Seacole live with an elderly woman for a few years, whom she called her "kind patroness” She was treated as a member of her patroness's family and received a good education As an educated daughter of a Scottish officer and a free black woman with a respectable business, shewould have held a high position in Jamaican society
14. Personal Life Married Edwin Horatio Hamilton Seacole in Kingston, 10 November 1836 She describes her entire marriage in nine lines near the beginning of her autobiography Husband died in October 1844, and her mother passed away shortly after Seacole records an American giving a speech at a dinner in which he praised Seacole, and said that "she's so many shades removed from being entirely black” He went on to say that "if we could bleach her by any means we would... and thus make her acceptable in any company as she deserves to be” Seacole was livid and replied that she would have been just as happy to have a complexion "as dark as any", and wishedfor "the general reformation of American manners"
15. The Crimea Seacoleapplied in various ways to join the medical forces in the Crimea, but was consistently refused Records show other black women suffered similar results Seacoledecided to travel to Crimea under her own steam to open the British Hotel. She printed business cards were printed and sent to announce her intention to open "a mess-table and comfortable quarters for sick and convalescent officers”. Her friend Thomas Day turned up in London and joined her.
16. The Crimea Seacole built the British Hotel from iron sheets, wood and packing cases from the nearby village of Kamara Florence Nightingale subtly disapproved of Seacole’sgiving the soldiers alcohol and opening the hotel to tourist, suggesting it was “little more than a brothel” However, Nightingale did later acknowledge the good Seacole did; she was an anonymous donor to the Seacole Testimonial Fund following Seacole’s return to England
17. Who was the real Angel of Mercy? Nightingale’s legacy means she likely had the most impact on modern nursing – plus she invented the pie-chart. However I think Seacole’s display of going above and beyond expectation shows her as the ‘true’ Angel of Mercy
Editor's Notes
1. Allowed her independence 2. Because of the pressure placed on her by his programme of reforms 3. So she was away from the action
I thought Syndrome was when someone has the tendency to care for the sick, often overbearingly – Wiki says it is when a caregiver develops an emotion, or even sexual attraction to their patient
This suggests that she was not concerned with marriage – implying independence through choice, despite no financial comfort (unlike Nightingale)
