IN-PERSON: Sarah Parker Remond plaque unveiling

This event will be in-person but will also be delivered via Zoom by Black History Walks. Please follow this FAQ link for information on Accessibility, Tickets and Copyrights.

This event is organised by Black History Walks in collaboration with UCL’s Sarah Parker Remond Centre

Sarah Parker Remond (1826-1894) was an African American activist who became well known on her international abolitionist tours for her fiery speeches.

In 1853 she took successful legal action against a local theatre campaigning for desegregation long before the US Civil War or the Civil Rights movement. In 1858 she undertook the challenging journey, as a single black woman, to the United Kingdom and gave numerous anti -racist lectures to packed houses across England, Scotland and Ireland.

She studied at Bedford College, which later became Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, and then studied at what is now University College London. She lived around the corner from where Mary Seacole, a contemporary, wrote her first book. Sarah was also involved in British women’s campaign to vote.

Sarah Parker Remond later moved to Florence, Italy, where she became a doctor at one of Europe’s most prestigious medical schools and qualified as an obstetrician.

Her language skills enabled her to join elite groups in Florence and Rome, where she hosted fellow abolitionist Frederick Douglass and lived next to the famed black female sculptor Edmonia Lewis. She also befriended the famous Italian nationalist Giuseppe Mazzini.

Sarah Parker Remond’s popularity, philanthropy, prominence and professional achievements are little known today although UCL’s Sarah Parker Remond Centre for Study of Racism and Racialisation is named after her.

The plaque is produced by Nubian Jak and sponsored by Black History Walks. It will be unveiled near Russell Square tube. Exact address will be announced one week before the event.

Exact agenda and timings (Covid-19 update dependent) will be announced but will include:
Musical interlude, short speeches from Sarah Parker Remond Centre staff and dignitaries, unveiling, photos and networking.