Mary Seacole was born to a Scottish soldier father and free black mother in Kingston, Jamaica in 1805. She travelled to England in the 1850s after building her reputation as a nurse. Her work in the Crimea during the war earned her the Crimean medal and she played a crucial role in opening up the medical and nursing professions to women. She died in obscurity in England in 1881. Sara Salih is Assistant Professor in English at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Judith Butler (Routledge 2002), and the editor, with Judith Butler, of The Judith Butler Reader (Blackwell, 2004). She is currently working on a book about representations of 'brown' women in England and Jamaica from the eighteenth century to the present day. Sara Salih is Assistant Professor in English at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Judith Butler (Routledge 2002), and the editor, with Judith Butler, of The Judith Butler Reader (Blackwell, 2004). She is currently working on a book about representations of 'brown' women in England and Jamaica from the eighteenth century to the present day.