Dr. Mary Walker's Civil War: One Woman's Journey to the Medal of Honor and the Fight for Women's Rights

Description

“I will always be somebody.” This assertion, a startling one from a nineteenth-century woman, drove the life of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the only American woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor. President Andrew Johnson issued the award in 1865 in recognition of the incomparable medical service Walker rendered during the Civil War. Yet few people today know anything about the woman so well-known--even notorious--in her own lifetime. Theresa Kaminski shares a different way of looking at the Civil War, through the eyes of a woman confident she could make a contribution equal to that of any man. She takes readers into the political cauldron of the nation’s capital in wartime, where Walker was a familiar if notorious figure. Mary Walker’s relentless pursuit of gender and racial equality is key to understanding her commitment to a Union victory in the Civil War. Her role in the women’s suffrage movement became controversial and the US Army stripped Walker of her medal, only to have the medal reinstated posthumously in 1977. Review: The Women's Rights Movement and Dr. Mary Walker - Dr. Mary Walker played an integral part in a very important period of time, not only in women’s history, but American history as well. Prior to reading this book, Dr. Walker was unknown to me and it provided an entirely new insight into the suffragist movement. In addition to some well-known names, e.g., Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, I was introduced to many women, also central players in the crusade for women’s equality and voting rights. Dr. Walker, an intelligent, tenacious advocate of the rights of women, endured hardship, imprisonment, ridicule, and slights in the pursuit of her own beliefs, but never wavered. Her adherence to the concept of dress reform, extremely radical for the era, brought her into conflict with not only men, but women as well. Regardless of frequent taunts, unwelcome attention, and time spent in jail for improper dress, she continued to adopt this manner of dress, beginning with the “bloomer” costume and eventually, graduating to trousers, waistcoat and a cane. She tirelessly campaigned for recognition as a doctor and sought positions in the medical field, the military, and government, only to be repeatedly turned away. Dr. Walker adhered to the position that women had the right to vote from the very beginning, as provided for in the Constitution. She is the first and only woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor. In Dr. Mary Walker’s Civil War Dr. Theresa Kaminski provides a perspective on the Civil War and the beginnings of the women’s movement that to many, I would assume, is unknown. It is eye opening, interesting, and accessible to the non-historian. Review: Only woman to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor - And excellent read and tells not only Dr. Walkers Civil War service but her efforts on behalf of women’s rights. Considering the requirements of the time, much different than today’s, Dr. Walker deserved her Medal of Honor and when you consider the facts that two of the Civil Wars most known Union generals, Generals Sherman and Thomas recommended her, there should never have been a question as to her deserving it.