Mary Edwards Walker- A century on
A feminist a head of her time, Walker was a prominent surgeon, author, orator, journalist and advocator for woman’s rights. Walker was the first female doctor commissioned by the US army working as a surgeon for the Union Army in the American Civil War which eventually led her to become Americas only female recipient of the Medal of Honour.
A prominent surgeon in her own right, Walker was the (insert name of recent day feminist she reminds you of) of her time …
Her story is one of many firsts; first female to be commissioned as US army …, first recipient of the Medal of Honour – an honour shared with no other woman
Early Life
Born November 26, 1832, in Oswego, New York, Walker was the fifth child of farmers Alvah Walker and Vesta Whitcomb. Alvah was a strong influence on Walkers future beliefs, he was a self-taught physician with various medical texts in his house which Walker used. He emphasised the importance of education and taught his son and daughters equally, emphasising the dangers of tobacco and alcohol whilst also discouraging the use of corsets deeming them to be detrimental to health impeding blood circulation. Walker took instruction at the Falley Seminary in Fulton, New York whereby she learnt basics in mathematics and grammar which led to a two-year teaching job in Minetto, New York. She saved up her salary to fund her ambition to study medicine.
He had a few prescriptions of his own, a healthy dose of alcoholic abstinence, tobacco teetotalism and corset caution …
Medicine
Walker was admitted to Syracuse Medical College, NY in December 1853, paying $165 tuition for three thirteen-week semesters equivalent to $5,418.96 today and $1.50 ($49.26) per week room and board. Syracuse was an eclectic medical school favouring a curriculum based on homeopathic teachings utilising plants and methods such as hydrotherapy. This was seen as unorthodox and may have contributed to Walkers later dismissal by army officials. Alongside this anatomy, obstetrics, pharmacy and pathology was also taught. Aged 22, after 18 moths of study Walker was awarded an MD degree, the only female of her graduating class of 1855.
Marriage
After failing to gain employment as a physician in Columbus, Ohio, Walker received an invitation from fellow Syracuse graduate Albert Miller to open a practice “Miller and Walker, Physicians at 76th Dominic Street” in Rome, NY. Wearing a dress coat and trousers to her wedding on November 16, 1855, she refused to promise to obey Miller later stating, “How barbarous the very idea of one equal promising to be the slave of another, instead of both entering life’s greatest drama as intelligent equal parties.” Upon discovering Miller to be an adulterer, Walker was granted a preliminary divorce in 1860 by the Supreme Court. In 1857 she started a career as a writer publishing her first article in The Sibyl Magazine, writing on the Dress Reform Association eventually becoming a president of the association in 1860. On March 8, 1860 she opened her own practice, mainly seeing to female patients and delivering babies.
War
Although physicians were in high demand in the midst of the civil war the union Army did not consider female applicants. Despite this Mary continued to practise as a physician and was held in high regard by the Washington press for her “positive attitude and drive and tirelessness”. Due to her non-traditional eclectic training she was denied an official army commission and so volunteered at the Indiana Hospital, Washington DC under the supervision of Dr. [J.N.] Green. In February 1862 Walker furthered her education studying for a month to gain a certificate in hydrotherapy. She then returned to the war in November 1862 volunteering at Warrenton, Virginia here she convinced the general to transfer patients to Washington to receive the care they required. With funds from the women’s suffrage group Walker founded the Women’s Relief Association a “home for unprotected females and children” in Washington in 1863. Walker remained determined to receive an official military post she wrote to President Lincoln requesting a commission, “in the female ward, as there cannot possibly be any objection urged on account of sex.” However, in his reply the president stated he could not intervene in army healthcare decisions.
Walker finally received a commission from General Thomas of the 52nd Ohio Regiment Chattanooga, Tennessee, he went against the decision of the medical board which deemed Walker to have the medical knowledge of a housewife. In September 1863 she was appointed assistant civilian contract field surgeon receiving $80 per month from March 1864. She used her position to advocate for hygiene and refuted the use of bleeding and amputations deeming them unnecessary in most cases stating that “Many a man today has perfect and good use of his limb who would not have had but for my advice.” Generals Sherman and Thomas stated that Walker “… passed frequently beyond our lines far within those of the enemy, and at one time gained information that led General Sherman to modify his strategic operations” this fuelled speculation that her appointment was to cover her activities as a spy. Travelling on horseback, Walker often unaccompanied crossed into enemy territory risking her own life to assist wounded civilians preforming simple surgeries, treating typhoid and cholera. On April 10, 1864 this led to her capture by Confederate forces and was transported to the prison Castle Thunder. Until her release on August 12, 1864, when she was exchanged for a Confederate surgeon held prisoner by the union army, Walker treated Castle Thunder prisoners and confederate soldiers.
Upon her release she received $432.36 in back pay for her duties even though she was imprisoned for four out of the five months for which she received payment. After a brief period of recovery for an eye injury due to muscular atrophy obtained whilst imprisoned, in September 1864 she was given the role of Surgeon in Charge at the Female Military Prison Hospital Louisville, Kentucky. Here Walker reformed the diets of the prisoners insisting on use of meat and vegetables in a varied diet, and also demanded the prisoners and officers maintained good hygiene practises. In March 1865, she requested a transfer and was granted a position at the Clarksville orphan and refugee asylum in Tennessee where she worked until her retirement from the army in June 1865.
Medal of Honour
Generals William Sherman and George Thomas impressed by Walker’s war time efforts petitioned President Johnson to officially recognise her wartime contributions. The president authorised the presentation of the Medal of Honour to Dr Walker on November 11, 1865 making her the only female to receive the honour. Walker wore the medal daily until her death and commented that she believed she received the medal for crossing into enemy territory to provide care when "no man surgeon was willing to respond for fear of being taken prisoner”.
Post War
In 1866 Walker was invited as an orator to the Society for the Promotion of Social Science, here she talked about her experiences as a female surgeon in the War as well as her ideas on dress reform and equal rights. Positives press reviews led to further speeches around Great Britain and France before eventually resulting in a US tour in 1868.
In 1871 she released a book entitled “Hit” which included autobiographical accounts and her views on marriage, divorce, women’s dress reform and women’s rights. She also provided health promotion, claiming that tobacco and alcohol were detrimental to health. However not all of her advice was accurate, she dismissed the theory that tuberculosis was caused by germs claiming that “microbes could not survive the environment of the lungs”. She also refuted the effectiveness of the smallpox vaccination arguing it was performed for monetary profit recommending the use of onions as prevention instead.
In her later life Walker was seen as having a “violent temper” leading to her dismissal from a job as a clerk in the Pensions Office of the Department of the Interior in June 1883 after 7 months of employment and becoming the subject of various law suits from her tenants on her Oswego farm. Walker continued to lecture on topics of interest to herself, aged 83 she gave a speech for women’s rights to vote. From 1870 she dressed in in a dress coat over trousers, shirt and bow-tie with a top hat, she is credited with designing an anti-rape outfit and a neck band to avoid chafing in shirts.
When lobbying to overturn the decision to remove her Medal of Honour, Walker fell on the capitol steps in Washington, this was detrimental to her health and she passed away on February 21, 1919. Campaigns after her death resulted in reinstatement of the Medal on June 10, 1977.
Conclusion
Walker was determined, even when treated as a social pariah and imprisoned for her dress sense to continue standing up for her beliefs in women rights and the freedom of dress. She claimed that “Not only every son but every daughter should be given a practical knowledge of some business whereby they can support themselves,” and she advocated the idea of equal pay and issue still relevant today. With seemingly little regard for her own safety she risked her life to treat civilians and soldiers in the Civil War.