The Mary Seacole Statue
The Mary Seacole Statue Campaign – Led by St George’s Hall Charitable Trust and supported by Mary Seacole Trust
St George’s Hall Charitable Trust is on a mission to create and install a statue of health pioneer, Mary Jane Seacole (1805-1881). Mary was voted the greatest black Briton in 2004 and the Trust believes that her outstanding achievements, as an influential black woman, a nurse, businesswoman and healer, deserve an enduring testament to our respect and recognition.
The Trust wishes to make certain that Mary Seacole’s exceptional promotion of innovative health and medicine is celebrated and perpetuated in Liverpool by raising a statue in her honour in St George’s Hall, as a continuing and constant reminder of her place in our nation’s history.
In 2012, the Trust commissioned and installed the statue of Catherine “Kitty” Wilkinson, the first monument to a historic woman to be placed in St George’s Hall. Kitty’s statue and the story of her promotion of pioneering hygiene methods against disease has since been recognised by hundreds of thousands of in-person and online visitors to the Great Hall, who have admired and learned about her crucial role in countering Liverpool’s devastating cholera epidemic of 1832. The historic bravery of women like Kitty Wilkinson and Mary Seacole – their care, their kindness, and their leadership – stand as markers of what is best in our society, that continues today in the dedication and fearlessness of our NHS and health care workers.
If the Trust’s campaign is successful, Mary Seacole’s statue will take its rightful place in the Great Hall, alongside the statues of Kitty Wilkinson and Liverpool’s founding fathers, an enduring testament to her place in our collective history that will never again be ignored or forgotten.
St George’s Hall Charitable Trust’s ambitions to create and install a statue of Mary Seacole are fully endorsed by Mary Seacole Trust. All contributions – no matter how big or small – will help us on our mission to put a statue of Mary in St George’s Hall.