(Photo)
When the Civil War started, Walker
applied for a
surgeon's commission in the Union army,
despite
having had little
training in surgery. After her petition
was
rejected by the surgeon general, she
volunteered as
a nurse in army
hospitals. Walker petitioned President
Lincoln in
January 1864, writing that she would be
willing to
be assigned to
a female ward, but she would "much
prefer to have
an extra surgeon's commission with
orders to go
whenever and wherever
there is a battle...She will not shrink
from duties
under shot and shells, believing that
her life is of
no value...if
by its loss the interest of future
generations
shall be promoted." Familiar with the
persistent
woman from her
appearances around Washington in
conspicuous dress,
Lincoln endorsed Walker's petition.
Mary Edwards Walker was born in Oswego,
N.Y., on November 26, 1832. She acquired
her early
education from her
sisters and parents, particularly her
father, a
skilled teacher, farmer, and doctor. In
1855,
overcoming considerable
obstacles and the prejudices against
women that
existed in the mid-19th century, 22 year
old Walker
graduated from
Syracuse Medical College and became one
of the
first female physicians. That same year
she married
classmate Dr.
Albert Feller, and they set up practice
in Rome,
N.Y. After 10 years of separation, they
were legally
divorced in
1869.