Mary Edwards Walker

Mary Edwards Walker
Walker with her Medal of Honor, photographed by C. M. Bell
Born(1832-11-26)November 26, 1832
Oswego, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 21, 1919(1919-02-21) (aged 86)
Oswego, New York, U.S.
Resting placeRural cemetery, Oswego
EducationFalley Seminary (1850–1852)
Syracuse Medical College (1853–1855)
Hygeio-Therapeutic College (1862)
OccupationSurgeon
EmployerUnited States Army
Known forReceiving the Medal of Honor during the American Civil War, was the first female U.S. Army surgeon, prohibitionist, abolitionist, first and only female Medal of Honor recipient
Spouse
Albert Miller
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(m. 1855; div. 1869)​
AwardsMedal of Honor

Mary Edwards Walker (November 26, 1832 – February 21, 1919), commonly referred to as Dr. Mary Walker, was an American abolitionist, prohibitionist, prisoner of war, and surgeon.[1] She is the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor.[2]

In 1855, she earned her medical degree at Syracuse Medical College in New York,[3] married and started a medical practice. She attempted to join the Union Army at the outbreak of the American Civil War and was denied. She served as a surgeon at a temporary hospital in Washington, D.C. before being hired by Union Forces and assigned to Army of the Cumberland and later the 52nd Ohio Infantry, becoming the first female surgeon in the US Army.[4][5] She was captured by Confederate forces[3] after crossing enemy lines to treat wounded civilians and arrested as a spy. She was sent as a prisoner of war to Richmond, Virginia until released in a prisoner exchange.

After the war, she was approved for the Medal of Honor, for her efforts to treat the wounded in battle and across enemy lines during the Civil War. Notably, the award was not expressly given for gallantry in action at that time, and in fact was the only military decoration during the Civil War. Walker is the only woman to receive the medal and one of only eight civilians to receive it. Her name was deleted from the Army Medal of Honor Roll in 1917 (along with over 900 other recipients); however, it was restored in 1977.[3] After the war, she was a writer and lecturer supporting the women's suffrage movement until her death in 1919.

  1. ^ Harness, Cheryl (2013). Mary Walker wears the pants : the true story of the doctor, reformer, and Civil War hero. Chicago: Albert Whitman & Co. ISBN 9780807549902. OCLC 794306404.
  2. ^ "The Case of Dr. Walker, Only Woman to Win (and Lose) the Medal of Honor". The New York Times. June 4, 1977. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Pennington, Reina (2003). Amazons to Fighter Pilots - A Biographical Dictionary of Military Women (Volume Two). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 474–475. ISBN 0-313-32708-4.
  4. ^ Spiegel, Allen; Suskind, Peter (June 1, 1996). "Mary Edwards Walker, M.D. A Feminist Physician a Century Ahead of Her Time". Journal of Community Health. 21 (3): 211–35. doi:10.1007/BF01558000. PMID 8726211. S2CID 35944111.
  5. ^ "Dr. Mary Edwards Walker (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2022-08-02.