07/05/2022
Dr. Mary Walker, surgeon, dress reformer, and the only woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor.
Dr. Mary Walker (1832-1919) was an abolitionist, prohibitionist, prisoner of war, and the first female U.S. Army surgeon during the Civil War. She is the only woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor. She was also an outspoken advocate of “rational dress reform” and of women’s rights.
Mary grew up in Oswego, New York in a family of freethinkers who brought up their children to question traditional gender roles. She earned her medical degree from Syracuse Medical College in 1855, and was the only female in her class.
In 1855, Walker married medical student Albert Miller. A woman far ahead of her time, at her wedding, Walker wore a short skirt with trousers underneath, refused to include “obey” in her vows, and retained her last name. They later divorced.
Walker grew up on a farm and did not wear traditional women’s clothing while working there because she considered the corsets and lacings too restricting. She opposed long skirts and petticoats, not only for their discomfort and their inhibition to the wearer's mobility but because they were unhygienic as they collected and spread dust and dirt.
She was criticized and mocked for her clothing style, and even arrested for dressing as a man, but she was convinced that if women’s clothing allowed more freedom, then women would be freer. She wrote that women's dress should “protect the person, and allow freedom of motion and circulation.” As far as the accusation that she was dressing like a man, she said, “I don't wear men's clothes, I wear my own clothes.”
During the Civil War, she worked as a civilian surgeon by the U.S. Army, the first woman in that position. (The Army wanted to hire her as a nurse, but she refused.) She wore men's clothing during her work, claiming it to be easier for high demands of her work. When asked about her wardrobe, Walker declared that she had special permission from Congress to wear trousers. She was part of the 52nd Ohio Infantry. She was often at the battle front and would treat civilians as well as soldiers.
In 1864 she was captured by Confederate troops and held prisoner for four months. Even as a prisoner she refused to wear the women’s clothing that was supplied to her. In August 1864, she was exchanged for a Confederate surgeon.
After the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson awarded her a Medal of Honor for her service during the war. She is the only woman (out of 3,500 recipients) who has ever been awarded that honor. The Medal was rescinded in 1917, because she was a civilian contract surgeon and not a commissioned officer in the Army. The Medal was restored to her posthumously in 1977.
After the war, she was a writer and lecturer supporting the women's suffrage movement. Her view was that women were citizens, and as such, already had the right to vote, and because of that, a Constitutional amendment was unnecessary. She attempted to register to vote in 1871, but was turned away. She gave speeches on women’s suffrage and testified before Congressional committees in 1912 and 1914.
Dr. Mary Walker died in 1919. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2000.
Denise Hight
Facebook: Historical Photos of Women's Stories
