Mary Walker Biography Essay

Words: 1192
Pages: 5
Open Document
Mary Edwards Walker is an influential figure in American history for a multitude of reasons. Her primary contributions were made through serving in the Civil War as a battlefield surgeon. The thing that makes Mary Walker stand out the most is that she, to this day, is the only woman to ever receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. Through the years of 1855-1865 She gained an early education an entered a medical college, was married, and a volunteer nurse that lead her to her assistant surgeon position in the Army. Her life spanned eighty-six years from birth on November 26, 1832 to death on February 21, 1919, which was unspecified.

Mary Walker was born into a strong outspoken family of nine. Father Alvah Walker, who was a farmer, teacher, and a self-taught physician, and Mother …show more content…
Together they started a medical clinic in Rome, New York. Mary’s marriage did not follow the traditional thought of how one should get married in her time. At Mary’s and Albert’s wedding they both wore a top hat, pants, and men’s coats. Marry refused to vow to obey Albert. Throughout her 13 years of marriage she kept her last name, preceding the tradition of assuming her husband's name. Albert and Mary separated in 1859 and after ten years they officially divorced. (http://www.aboutnorthgeorgia.com/ang/Mary_Edwards_Walker )

At the upsurge of the Civil War, Dr. Walker attempted to secure a task in the Army Medical Corps but was rejected because she was a woman. Walker volunteered as a nurse at the Patent office Hospital in Washington, D.C. She also organized the Women's Relief Organization to aid the wives and mothers of wounded soldiers who came to visit Washington area hospitals. In 1862 she took a break to get a degree at the New York Hygeio-Therapeutic College. Shortly after Walker returned to the war. She became a Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon, becoming the first female surgeon in the United
Show More

Related Documents: Mary Walker Biography Essay

Essay on Ansel Adams

Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American photographer and environmentalist best known for his black-and-whitelandscape photographs of the American West, especially of Yosemite National Park.[1] With Fred Archer, Adams developed the Zone System as a way to determine proper exposure and adjust the contrast of the final print. The resulting clarity and depth characterized his photographs and the work of those to whom he taught the system. Adams primarily used large-formatcameras…

Words 8858 - Pages 36