Adapted from Philip Cohen, “More Women Are Doctors and Laywers Than Ever—but Progress Is Stalling,” (C) 2012 by The Atlantic.
Mary Walker: A Century Ahead of Her Time
Dr. M. Edwards Walker was one of the bravest army
surgeons during the American Civil War. In addition to
working on the frontlines of the Union Army from 1863
to 1865, Walker was also a Union 1 spy. Who relayed
Confederate secrets across enemy lines while treating
civilians in the South. Walker was even captured by
Confederate troops and held as a prisoner of war for four
months, until eventually being released—along with two
dozen other Union doctors—in exchange for seventeen
Confederate surgeons. But what makes Dr. Walker’s story
perhaps even more remarkable is that, unlike the other
Army surgeons during the Civil War, Dr. Walker was a
woman.
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was born on November
26, 1832, in the town of Oswego, New York. Her father, a
country doctor, was an active participant in many of the
social reform movements of the mid-1800s; he encouraged
all five of his daughters to pursue their education in spite
of heavy social pressures and 2 prejudices against them.
Mary, the youngest of the daughters, followed her father’s
advice the most intently, becoming the second woman to
receive a medical doctorate in the United States in 1855 at
the young age of 21. 3
In recognition of her service to the Union Army
during the Civil War, Walker was awarded the Medal of
Honor in 1865. She was the first and only woman ever to
receive the United States Army’s highest military honor.
While her medal, along with the medals of 910 others,
4 were unfortunately taken away when Congress revised
the Medal of Honor standards in 1917, an Army Board
eventually reinstated Walker’s award posthumously,
5 reciting her “distinguished gallantry, self-sacrifice,
patriotism, dedication; and unflinching loyalty to her
country, despite the apparent discrimination because of her
sex.”
6 To say that Mary Walker was born ahead of her
time would be a vast understatement. From an early age,
Walker refused to wear the long heavy skirts and corsets
that were traditionally designated for women 7 yet
would instead wear a dress and trouser combination
called the ‘Bloomer costume’ that provided for greater
mobility. In 1866, Walker was even elected president of
the National Dress Reform Association, and prided herself
in being arrested numerous times for wearing full male
attire, including 8 a winged-collar; bow-tie; and, top hat.
Towards the end of her life, Walker went on to become
involved in a number of other progressive movements in
the United States, including the suffragette movement and
the temperance movement. 9 Interestingly, though, while
Walker was an outspoken proponent of the woman’s suffrage
movement, she did not support the Nineteenth Amendment
and instead argued that a woman’s right to vote was already
contained in the United States Constitution.
Though she was unaware of it at the time, Mary
Edwards Walker was at the forefront of a monumental shift
in the role of women in medicine. 10 Walker was not
only a trailblazer in the medical 11 field, she was also a
relentless visionary who bravely challenged many of the
social prejudices of her day, and contributed as much to
advancing gender equality in the United States as she did to
healing injured soldiers during the Civil War.
Mary Walker: A Century Ahead of Her Time
Dr. M. Edwards Walker was one of the bravest army
surgeons during the American Civil War. In addition to
working on the frontlines of the Union Army from 1863
to 1865, Walker was also a Union 1 spy. Who relayed
Confederate secrets across enemy lines while treating
civilians in the South. Walker was even captured by
Confederate troops and held as a prisoner of war for four
months, until eventually being released—along with two
dozen other Union doctors—in exchange for seventeen
Confederate surgeons. But what makes Dr. Walker’s story
perhaps even more remarkable is that, unlike the other
Army surgeons during the Civil War, Dr. Walker was a
woman.
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was born on November
26, 1832, in the town of Oswego, New York. Her father, a
country doctor, was an active participant in many of the
social reform movements of the mid-1800s; he encouraged
all five of his daughters to pursue their education in spite
of heavy social pressures and 2 prejudices against them.
Mary, the youngest of the daughters, followed her father’s
advice the most intently, becoming the second woman to
receive a medical doctorate in the United States in 1855 at
the young age of 21. 3
In recognition of her service to the Union Army
during the Civil War, Walker was awarded the Medal of
Honor in 1865. She was the first and only woman ever to
receive the United States Army’s highest military honor.
While her medal, along with the medals of 910 others,
4 were unfortunately taken away when Congress revised
the Medal of Honor standards in 1917, an Army Board
eventually reinstated Walker’s award posthumously,
5 reciting her “distinguished gallantry, self-sacrifice,
patriotism, dedication; and unflinching loyalty to her
country, despite the apparent discrimination because of her
sex.”
6 To say that Mary Walker was born ahead of her
time would be a vast understatement. From an early age,
Walker refused to wear the long heavy skirts and corsets
that were traditionally designated for women 7 yet
would instead wear a dress and trouser combination
called the ‘Bloomer costume’ that provided for greater
mobility. In 1866, Walker was even elected president of
the National Dress Reform Association, and prided herself
in being arrested numerous times for wearing full male
attire, including 8 a winged-collar; bow-tie; and, top hat.
Towards the end of her life, Walker went on to become
involved in a number of other progressive movements in
the United States, including the suffragette movement and
the temperance movement. 9 Interestingly, though, while
Walker was an outspoken proponent of the woman’s suffrage
movement, she did not support the Nineteenth Amendment
and instead argued that a woman’s right to vote was already
contained in the United States Constitution.
Though she was unaware of it at the time, Mary
Edwards Walker was at the forefront of a monumental shift
in the role of women in medicine. 10 Walker was not
only a trailblazer in the medical 11 field, she was also a
relentless visionary who bravely challenged many of the
social prejudices of her day, and contributed as much to
advancing gender equality in the United States as she did to
healing injured soldiers during the Civil War.