Mary Edwards Walker

Walker, Mary Edwards (1832–1919), U.S. physician, writer, and advocate of women's rights. The Medal of Honor bestowed upon Walker (1865) for her work as a surgeon for the Union forces during the Civil War was revoked (1917) because of her official non-military status. The medal was rightfully reinstated many years later (1977). To protest restrictions placed upon women, she chose to wear clothes unacceptable in her time—trousers. She further discussed women's rights in her books Hit (1871) and Unmasked, or the Science of Immortality (1878).

See also: Women's movements.