Charing Cross Hospital
On Tuesday 31st May 2022, the Young Historians Project unveiled our second commemorative mural at Charing Cross Hospital, London, on the south corridor of the ground floor. The mural features seven impactful female healthcare workers from a range of time periods. These women are Hala Abusin, Princess Adenrele Ademola, Dame Elizabeth Anoinwu, Susan Ofori Atta, Olaore Green, and Lulu Coote. We chose to portray both twentieth century and contemporary women in this mural to highlight the long history of contributions of African women towards the National Health Service. YHP worked with heritage interpreter and Bristol–based artist Michele Curtis, who painted the mural with assistance from YHP members Amelia, Kaitlene, Ruben, and Perry. This mural would not have been possible without former YHP member Ijeoma, who initiated contact between YHP and the Imperial Health Charity whilst working at the hospital as a radiographer.
The mural's unveiling was reported by the Nursing Times and the Imperial Health Charity. YHP also published a blog article to share the experience from our perspective. Lucy Zacaria, head of arts at Imperial Health Charity, shared that “It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with Michele and the Young Historians Project to bring this mural to life. The history of the NHS is full of incredible contributions by women whose stories haven’t got the attention they deserve. We hope that this project does a little bit to shine a light on some of these stories and inspire staff and visitors at Charing Cross Hospital."
Princess
Ademola
Princess Omo Oba Adenrele Ademola was born on the 2nd of January 1916 to a royal Nigerian family. Her father was the Alake of Abeokuta, the King of the southern region. She arrived in Britain in June 1935. Following her schooling in Somerset Ademola qualified as a nurse and midwife, working in various London hospitals during the Second World War. Between 1939 and 1941, she worked at Guys Hospital, Queen Charlotte’s Maternity Hospital and New End Hospital. Records suggest that Princess Ademola was popular amongst patients, who affectionately nicknamed her “fairy”. In the mid-1940s, she featured in a film produced by the Colonial Film Unit titled ‘Nurse Ademola’, which was broadcasted across West Africa. It depicted her progress in training and work in London hospitals and inspired many across West Africa to join the health service. Sadly, this footage has been lost. There is no known official record of the Princess after 1949. In the electoral register of 1949, she is listed as a nurse residing in South Kensington.