Mary Edwards Walker

• 1. A Girl In Trousers

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  Mary Edwards Walker was born on the 26th of November 1832 in the Town of Oswego, New York. Her parents Alvah and Vesta raised their children with a revolutionary mindset for that era. They taught both sons and daughters to share farm labor without regard for gender roles. Vesta often performed heavy physical work while Alvah handled household chores. Mary worked alongside them as a child and refused to wear restrictive women's clothing during these tasks. She considered corsets and tight lacings unhealthy and dangerous to her body. Her mother reinforced this view throughout her childhood years. The Walkers were Freethinkers who encouraged their children to question religious regulations. This environment nurtured Mary's spirit of independence and sense of justice from an early age.

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• 2. Crossing Enemy Lines

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  The American Civil War began in 1861 when Mary volunteered as a surgeon for the Union Army. She was rejected because she was a woman despite having kept a private practice for many years. She served at the First Battle of Bull Run on the 21st of July 1861 and later at the Patent Office Hospital in Washington D.C. By September 1863 she was employed as a Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon by the Army of the Cumberland. Walker frequently crossed battle lines to treat wounded civilians on both sides. On the 10th of April 1864 Confederate troops captured her after she finished helping a doctor perform an amputation. She was arrested as a spy and sent to Castle Thunder prison in Richmond Virginia. She remained there until the 12th of August 1864 when she was released in a prisoner exchange with a Confederate surgeon from Tennessee.

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• 3. The Medal That Vanished

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  President Andrew Johnson personally awarded Walker the Medal of Honor after the war ended. The award recognized her efforts to treat the wounded across enemy lines during the conflict. It was the only military decoration given to a civilian during the Civil War. In 1917 the U.S. Congress created separate Army and Navy Medal of Honor Rolls. The Army reviewed eligibility and struck 911 names including Mary Edwards Walker from the roll. Authorities deemed her ineligible because she was a civilian contract surgeon not a commissioned officer. Her name was restored in 1977 through bureaucratic channels involving the Board for Correction of Military Records. This restoration occurred well below the level of the Secretary of the Army despite opposition from multiple administrations.

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• 4. Wearing Her Own Clothes

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  Walker became infamous for contesting traditional female wardrobe choices throughout her life. In 1871 she wrote that women suffered physical moral and mental sorrows caused by unhygienic dress. She strongly opposed long skirts with numerous petticoats due to their discomfort and mobility issues. By 1861 her typical ensemble included trousers with suspenders under a knee-length dress. Once while teaching school she was assaulted on her way home by a neighboring farmer and boys who chased her with eggs. Female colleagues criticized her choices and patients often gawked at her attire. She insisted on wearing what she thought appropriate regardless of public opinion. An arresting officer in New Orleans twisted her arm in 1870 asking if she had ever been in a relationship with a man.

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• 5. The Vote That Wasn't

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  Mary Walker joined the Central Woman's Suffrage Bureau in Washington D.C. after the war. She attempted to register to vote in 1871 but was turned away by officials. The movement initially claimed women already had the right to vote requiring only enabling legislation. This stance diametrically opposed her position as years passed without results. Congress later promoted adoption of a constitutional amendment which she rejected. Her penchant for wearing masculine clothing including a top hat exacerbated her isolation from mainstream organizers. She testified before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1912 and 1914 regarding suffrage rights. Walker died on the 21st of February 1919 exactly 544 days before the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed voting rights to women.

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• 6. A Legacy In Bronze And Stone

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  Walker received recognition long after her death through various tributes across the United States. A Liberty ship named SS Mary Walker served during World War II honoring her memory. The U.S. Postal Service issued a twenty five-cent stamp in 1982 commemorating her birth anniversary. Medical facilities at SUNY Oswego bear her name along with a plaque explaining her importance locally. A United States Army Reserve center exists in Walker Michigan dedicated to her work. A ninety pound bronze statue unveiled in May 2012 stands before the Oswego Town Hall. Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia was officially renamed Fort Walker in August 2023 making her the first woman honored this way. An American Women quarter released in 2024 depicts her holding pocket surgical kits and medals.

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