Mary Walker Biography Essay

Born and raised on a farm in New York, Mary Walker, despite many’s disapproval, studied vigorously to become a doctor to assist the wounded any way she could, earning several people’s admiration along the way. Mary fought for what she believed in, such as the dress reform movement, and the right to work as a surgeon in the army for the good of others.
Alva and Vesta Walker bore a daughter in Oswego, New York, on the twenty-sixth of November (Biography.com). Growing up on the family farm, Mary’s father worked her hard in the fields, but forbade her to wear any traditional tight-fitting clothing, stating they impeded the circulation of her blood (Walker 30). Additionally, she read her father’s medical books in the family farmhouse and learned the necessary essentials in the

On August 12, 1864, an exchange freed Mary in place of a Confederate surgeon (The Famous People.com).
Mary worked as a supervisor in Louisville, Kentucky, and later going to Tennessee to run an orphanage (The Famous People.com). No longer desiring to work for the government, Mary withdrew herself from the battlefield in June of 1865 (Biography.com).
After her retirement, Mary worked as an advocate for women’s suffering movement, as well as lecturing on issues such as dress reforms, later becoming head of the ‘National Dress Reform Association’ (Biography.com; MacLean). With such strong beliefs in the freedom of dress, Mary penned books about her ideas, such as Hit and Unmasked, or the Science of Immorality (Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica). In 1865, Mary became the first and only woman to receive the Medal of Honor for Meritorious Service (Biography.com). Sadly, this honor was revoked in 1917 due to the criteria shifting to an “actual combat” requirement, but Mary continued to wear the medal proudly