A daring woman who embraced progression of thoughts and free will, was born in the city of Oswego of New York, Mary Edwards Walker was her name. Born under the constellation of the archer, she would go on to do the unthinkable. She was raised by parents who taught her to question life and its teachings. They were encouraged to be ‘free thinkers.’
She was one out five siblings and was the youngest. Her father was a doctor and this inspired her to take up one of the toughest professions of healing. The 18th century was a brutal time to be a woman and a danger period for mankind. This valuable lesson taught by her parents became a revolutionary tool to drive even when most people born in this time would choose to let go! Her unwavering decision to become a doctor was remarkable as she was the second woman to graduate in an undergraduate medicine degree after Elizabeth Blackwell. She married fellow medical student Albert Miller who also studied in the same medical school as her which was Syracuse Medical College. After marriage, unlike most women who conformed to the traditions of that time, Mary would be different. She refused to obey her husband as she must’ve found it fishy, she preferred to keep her last name, and would rather wear a short skirt and trousers. She was also picked on for her rebellious fashion sense in the 1860s, which was initially trousers with suspenders that were worn under a knee length dress and would later limit herself to just jackets and trousers. She married Miller on Nov 16, 1855 and would open a practice together that would end up being unsuccessful all because the thought of woman doctor was resentful. Society was not ready for people like Mary. She did not have children from her first marriage and would later on divorce him after finding about his infidelity. Another one of her best successes in her career was her dream of being a surgeon in the Civil War of 1861 this role was denied to her and was an assistant surgeon instead in the year 1863. She became a prisoner of war trade when she was captured by the Confederate troops. She had spent her life as a doctor volunteering at a woman’s prison and an orphan asylum during the rest of the war.
Another law she solely believed in was women’s constitutional right to vote and equality of freedom of speech and expression in a male-dominated America. And in 1912 and 1914 she did just that, she stood in front of the US House of Representatives to bring out the true meaning of suffrage for women to be of equity. She became distant when she realised that as an educated woman it was her who fought for a change in the constitution, an amendment whereas others would just simply argue.
She was treated poorly and more often than not as an oddity by on-lookers who refused accept to change was a form of freedom, clothes to her were an expression of that! On November 11th, 1865, Dr Mary Edwards Walker was awarded the US Congressional Medal of Honour! In 2024, she is one of the five women who were selected for the US Mint 2024 coinage program. She’s a gift to women who dream of doing the impossible!
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