In pillowcase you needed any more ammunition in future controversy forfeminism , consider this . In the159 - yr history of the Medal of Honor — the United States ' highest military award for valor in combat — more than 3,500 hoi polloi have received the prestigious prize ; only one of them so far has been a char : Mary Edwards Walker .
Born in Oswego , New York , in 1832 , Walker has achieved legendary status as a pioneering surgeon , women ’s rightfulness advocate andabolitionistwho was the first distaff U.S. Army surgeon during the Civil War . Walker was the 5th daughter born to Dr. Alvah and Vesta Whitcomb Walker , emancipationist who boost their girl to be freethinkers .
Walker Eschewed the Norm
Rather than adapt to the social and style average of the era , Walker shun bird and corsets and pet " fuckup " pant . But her independent approximation were n’t confined to manner ( althoughlater media reportscouldn’t seem to stop obsessing about her closet ) .
Despite the fact that women were discourage from entering the traditionally manful medical field , Walker knew she desire to be a physician and enrol at Syracuse Medical College ( now Upstate Medical University ) , graduating in 1855 with a Doctor of Medicine degree ( she was only the second cleaning woman to ever calibrate from the school afterElizabeth Blackwell ) . Walker soon started a private practice in Columbus , Ohio , before devolve to New York where she tie fellow physician Albert Miller . A few years later , the Civil War irrupt .
presently after the war break out in 1861 , Walker test to get together the Union ’s endeavor as a operating surgeon in Washington , D.C. , but was turned aside because of her gender . She was n’t deterred , taking an recreational military position as the only distaff volunteer surgeon in theU.S. Patent Office Hospital . She found clip in 1862 to bring in a degree from the New York Hygeio - Therapeutic College and when she render to volunteering , she worked on the field in tent hospitals in Warrenton and Fredericksburg , Virginia . The undermentioned descent , Walker was appointed assistant surgeon in the Army of the Cumberland in Tennessee .
In April 1864 , Walker was catch as a undercover agent by Confederate troops after she ’d track battle line to help a Confederate doctor with surgical process . " Mary was imprisoned at Richmond ’s Castle Thunder , which was a prison chiefly for Richmond ’s own — unruly civilian , prostitute , Unionists and deserters , " Kelly R. Hancock , public programs manager at theAmerican Civil War Museum , write via email . " Since Mary Walker was a woman and Castle Thunder had one of its warehouses designated for fair sex prisoner , Mary was kept there for four calendar month from April 21 to Aug. 12 , when she was liberate in a captive of war exchange . "
According to Hancock , Richmond ’s prison house were anything but pleasant . " They were crowd , ill vent and disease ridden , " she says . " In a metropolis , in which their own citizens were ingest trouble place food on the table , prison house receive light rations . "
Her Critics Were Ruthless
Not only was the media vital of Walker ’s clothing , but reporters were merciless about her overall visual aspect . " The insistency was also very critical of her looks , calling her ' ugly ' and ' skinny , ' which at the sentence was not a compliment , " Hancock says . " I think this disparagement is primarily due to the resentment over her stepping outdoors of what was socially satisfactory for a woman to be and do . "
Walker was give up from prison in August 1864 and just one calendar month later became the adjunct surgeon of the Ohio 52nd Infantry . shortly after that , she began supervising a hospital for distaff prisoners and afterwards oversaw operations at an orphanhood . In 1865 , Walker officially retired from government service and by and by that twelvemonth , President Andrew Johnson awarded her the Medal of Honor for Meritorious Service , make her the first female recipient .
" As far as why she is still the only woman to encounter a Medal of Honor , I think this is largely due to the fact that Congress changed the requirements for the medal , make it available only to people in the armed services who have been in combat-ready combat , " Hancock says . " Until 2015 , there was a banning on women service in dynamic scrap , and women were not integrate into combat berth until January 2016 . That was only four twelvemonth ago . There just has not been enough time or opportunity for another womanhood to be present a Medal of Honor . "
She Advocated for Women’s Rights
In accession to her groundbreaking ceremony work as a physician , Walker is known for her protagonism around woman ’s rights . She was , of course , an outspoken advocate of " dress reform " and was even arrested in New Orleans in 1870 for dressing " like a man " ( although as Hancock points out , Walkerwas wearing her own wearing apparel ) . Walker was also asuffragist , campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1881 , and ran as a popular candidate for Congress in 1890 . Despite her loss , she take the stand in front of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of women ’s right field to vote .
In 1917 , the terms designating eligibility for Medal of Honor were reappraised and Walker ’s name , along with others , was slay from the leaning of awardees , and it take until 1977 for a Congressional reappraisal of her achievements to touch on the honor . In on-key Walker fashion , when the realisation was initially countermand , she defy to surrender the ribbon ( and she continued to fatigue it for the remnant of her sprightliness ) .
Walker croak Feb. 21 , 1919 , in her hometown of Oswego . Her legacy live on today and her feel is captured in quotes likethis onefrom 1897 :
