| Statue of Betty Campbell | |
|---|---|
 The statue in 2021 | |
 | |
| Artist | Eve Shepherd |
| Subject | Betty Campbell |
| Location | Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom |
| 51°28′39″N3°10′46″W / 51.4775°N 3.1795°W | |
A statue of Betty Campbell sculpted by Eve Shepherd was unveiled in Central Square, Cardiff, Wales, in 2021. Betty Campbell had been the first black head teacher in Wales. [1] [2]
Campbell died at the age of 82 on 13 October 2017. [3] First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones described Campbell as "a true pioneer" and an "inspiration to other black and ethnic minority people." [4]
Race Council Cymru immediately called for a statue to be erected in her memory. [5] In Cardiff, the only statue of a woman who actually lived was that of Boudicca in the City Hall. This contrasted with the number of statues of famous men, including Aneurin Bevan, Ivor Novello and Lloyd George. [6] In 2016, Helen Molyneux (the Chair of the Institute of Welsh Affairs), Carolyn Hitt, and the Welsh Women's Equality Network, organised 'Monumental Welsh Women', a task force to tackle this imbalance. [6] [7] In 2019, the BBC ran the 'Hidden Heroines' campaign to decide who should be the subject of Cardiff's first statue of a named woman, decided by a public vote. [8] Five women were shortlisted: the poet and teacher Cranogwen (Sarah Jane Rees), the suffragette Lady Rhondda (Margaret Haig Thomas), the political organiser Elizabeth Andrews, the writer and anthropologist Elaine Morgan, and Betty Campbell.
On 18 January 2019, it was announced that Campbell had won the vote, and that her statue would be erected in the plaza of Central Square. [9]
The Betty Campbell statue was intended to be an iconic landmark that people travel to Cardiff just to see. [10] Sculptor Eve Shepherd was chosen from a shortlist of three artists. [11]
The finished sculpture is 4 metres (13 ft) high and cast in bronze. Cambell's head and shoulders create a canopy sheltering ten bronze children of various ages depicted at the base of the statue. The base also includes mini bronze models of landmarks in Tiger Bay, for example the Pierhead Building and the Wales Millennium Centre. In addition there are small bronze chairs which are designed to be sat upon. [12]
On seeing the final design, Elaine Clarke, Campbell's daughter, commented that it encapsulated her mother "in a way that ensures her legacy of determination, aspiration and inspiration lives on for generations to come". [11] The statue was financed by private, corporate, crowd-sourced and Welsh Government funding and it was intended to be installed in 2020. After delays caused by COVID-19 restrictions, the unveiling took place on 29 September 2021. [13] [14] An image of the statue was included in video accompanying the official Wales World Cup song in 2022. [15]
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic Sea to the south-west. As of 2021, it had a population of 3,107,494. It has a total area of 21,218 square kilometres (8,192 sq mi) and over 2,700 kilometres (1,680 mi) of coastline. It is largely mountainous with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon, its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate. The capital and largest city is Cardiff.
The Millennium Stadium, known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and has also held Wales national football team games. Initially built to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup and replacing the National Stadium, it has gone on to host many other large-scale events, such as the Tsunami Relief Cardiff concert, the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain and various concerts. It also hosted FA Cup, League Cup and Football League play-off finals while Wembley Stadium was being redeveloped between 2001 and 2006, as well as football matches during the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Elaine Morgan OBE, FRSL, was a Welsh writer for television and the author of several books on evolutionary anthropology. She advocated the aquatic ape hypothesis, which advocated as a corrective to what she saw as theories that purveyed gendered stereotypes and failed to account for women's role in human evolution adequately. The Descent of Woman, published in 1972, became an international bestseller, translated into ten languages. In 2016, she was named one of "the 50 greatest Welsh men and women of all time" in a press survey.
William John Boston, MBE is a Welsh former professional rugby league footballer who played as a wing or centre. Born in Cardiff, Wales, Boston started his career as a rugby union player before joining Wigan in 1953. He spent the next 15 years at Wigan, where he scored a club-record 478 tries in his 488 appearances for the club. He finished his career at Blackpool Borough before retiring in 1970. He also represented Great Britain in 31 Test matches, and was part of the team that won the 1960 Rugby League World Cup.
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The Wales women's national rugby union team first played in 1987. Wales plays in the Women's Rugby World Cup and the Women's Six Nations Championship.
A Grogg is a caricature figure made by the World of Groggs, a ceramics company established by John Hughes in 1965, in Trefforest near Pontypridd, Wales. Most Groggs are 9 inches tall or less and are made of a type of clay called grog. Groggs are usually made of popular Welsh rugby players, Welsh celebrities and the occasional non-Welsh celebrity. Whenever possible the person who is "grogged" is presented with the first Grogg produced. They are moulded and painted by hand and a Grogg can take many weeks from the master copy being made to the first one being painted.
Margaret Haig Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda was a Welsh peeress, businesswoman and active suffragette who was significant in the history of women's suffrage in the United Kingdom.
Sarah Jane Rees, also known by the bardic name "Cranogwen", was a Welsh teacher, poet, editor, master mariner and temperance campaigner. She had two romantic friendships with women, first with 'Phania' Fanny Rees, until her death from tuberculosis, then with Jane Thomas, for most of the rest of Rees's life.
Humphrey Vaughan ap David Gething is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative Party politician who is currently serving as First Minister of Wales and leader of Welsh Labour since 2024, making him the first black leader of any European country. Gething previously served as the Minister for Health and Social Services from 2016 to 2021 and Minister for the Economy from 2021 to 2024. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Cardiff South and Penarth since 2011.
Black Welsh people are inhabitants of Wales who have an African or an Afro-Caribbean background and are black. Wales is home to one of the United Kingdom's oldest black communities, and Tiger Bay in Cardiff has housed a large Somali population since the development of the port in the 19th century. The 2011 census reported that there were more than 18,000 Welsh-African people in Wales.
Betty Campbell was a Welsh community activist, who was Wales' first black head teacher. Born into a poor household in Butetown, she won a scholarship to the Lady Margaret High School for Girls in Cardiff. Campbell later trained as a teacher, eventually becoming head teacher of Mount Stuart Primary School in Butetown, Cardiff. She put into practice innovative ideas on the education of children and was actively involved in the community.
Testament of Youth is a 1979 BBC television drama based on the First World War memoir of the same name written by Vera Brittain. It was transmitted on BBC2.
Helen Molyneux is a Welsh lawyer who founded and was the CEO of the UK personal injury law firm NewLaw Solicitors.
Events from the year 2019 in Wales.
Events from the year 2021 in Wales.
Eve Shepherd MRSS is a British sculptor.
