A monument to honour Betty Campbell, Wales' first Black head teacher and Black history campaigner, has been unveiled in Cardiff. And it is believed to be the first statue of a named, non-fictional woman in an outdoor public space in Wales.
Mrs Campbell, who died in 2017, proved her doubters wrong after being told as a child that her dream job as a head teacher was insurmountable.
Professor Uzo Iwobi, founder of Race Council Cymru, said: "Wales has shown that this black woman truly matters to us all.” Geraldine Trotman, Black History Patron for Wales, said the unveiling of the statue of Mrs Campbell would be one of the greatest moments for Butetown and everyone who lives in Wales.
A UK-wide survey of statues, carried out in 2018, found that just one in five statues in Britain were of women, with most of fictional characters or unnamed figures. Last year an audit, commissioned in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests, found there were no statues of any named individual of Black heritage in outdoor public spaces in Wales, with just an anonymous statue group in Cardiff Bay.
The statue of Betty - a.k.a Rachel Elizabeth Campbell - was unveiled in Central Square after it had been due to take place in 2020, but was delayed after the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands voted for a statue of Mrs Campbell from a shortlist of five Welsh women.
Helen Molyneux, founder of Monumental Welsh Women, said: "Betty's impact during her life was incredible, but, as with so many women throughout history, likely to be forgotten or overlooked by future generations unless something was done to bring her to people's attention. The monument created by Eve Shepherd will certainly achieve that. It is a truly iconic, beautiful piece that will attract the world's attention to Cardiff."
Betty Campbell was born in 1934 in Cardiff's Tiger Bay, to a Jamaican father and Welsh Barbadian mother. She worked as a teacher in deprived multi-racial areas of the city, before becoming headteacher at Mount Stuart Primary School, despite being reduced to tears as a child when her teacher told her there were too many barriers for her to become a head teacher.
Throughout her life, she championed her nation's multicultural heritage, and put black culture on the curriculum at her school. She was a county councillor for Cardiff's Butetown ward and was a member of the preparation committee for the opening of the National Assembly in 1998.
Betty was on the race relations board between 1972 and 1976, a member of the Broadcasting Council for Wales from 1980 to 1984, a member of the Home Office's race advisory committee and served in many educational roles.
Her daughter, Elaine Clarke said she was extremely proud and privileged to have her mother remembered in such an iconic way. "Through her sculpture, Eve encapsulates Betty's legacy of determination, aspiration and inspiration that reflected her passion for diversity and equality, she said, “making her a truly positive role model for many in the community and beyond."
Chantelle Haughton, who attended Mrs Campbell's school as a pupil, said she had been a pioneer for change, decades before black history is set to be taught in all Welsh schools under the new curriculum.
"The thought of Betty's statue fills me up and the wonderful opportunity this memorial brings for Mrs Campbell's story to reach so many more from here on," she said.
