OSWEGO, N.Y. (WENY) -- Look in your pockets for the newly released quarters collection featuring trailblazing women.
The latest feature includes Oswego native, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, who is the only woman ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor!
The program by the U.S. Mint is called the American Women Quarters Program, which aims to highlight female activists who have paved the way for generations to follow through their remarkable contributions.
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker is now the 13th woman in a line of women who helped shape our nation's history.
Raffi Andondian, known as the ‘Celebrity Historian’ and currently serves as a professor for Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, says the latest program is pivotal since money is where nations honor their heroes.
“If you look, of course, on our currency, we put people like presidents, right? Think about the quarter, you have George Washington in the front. Well, now you have someone like these various historic women, including Dr. Mary Edwards Walker on the same platform as George Washington.”
Dr.Mary Edwards Walker was a Civil War surgeon who helped reimagine women in medicine. In 1855, she graduated as a medical doctor from Syracuse Medical College. After pursuing her private practice for some years, it was in 1861 that she was faced with societal hurdles.
The Union Army did not allow her to come on board as an official surgeon because she was a woman. In turn, she was unable to formally enroll in the military. Instead, she decided to join as an unpaid volunteer.
“When she served as an unpaid volunteer, she took a lot of risks. She went to the front lines, sometimes even went behind enemy lines, and eventually earned her way to get a commission from the U. S. Army and thus became the first woman ever to be appointed as a surgeon in the U. S. Army.”
It wasn’t long before she was caught and became a prisoner of war. Eventually, she was released in a prisoner exchange, but her career didn’t end there.
She went on to serve as a surgeon in multiple locations, lending her service and skills ranging from a women’s prison hospital to an orphanage asylum.
“The Civil War of Service is what gave her the Medal of Honor and that's another big distinction for her. Not only was she the first woman to serve as a surgeon in the U.S. Army, but she also was the first woman and remains the only woman ever to receive the medal of honor.”
In 1916, she would be stripped of her lapel for being considered a civilian at the time of war. She was still alive during this time to witness this beloved staple get turned over. In 1977 under the Carter administration, her Medal of Honor had been restored.
“[It’s] so important to her story because she remains the only woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor and the story about her getting stripped of the Medal of Honor and then eventually being restored, it makes it particularly central to her story that the Medal of Honor is part of her legacy.”
Dr.Mary Edwards Walker was also notably known for breaking barriers when it came to women's clothing. In many photographs, she was often pictured wearing trousers or pants beneath her dress.
“Eventually she got rid of the dress and went all in on the pants and the trousers because she thought it was more comfortable and didn't think that she had to fit into society's norms.”
Her legacy and story will now be circulating for years to come under the American Women Quarters program. Andonian says while many people may not be familiar with her story, seeing key pieces in the symbolism of the quarter allows people’s curiosity to want to dig deeper.
You can also find her at the National Women’s Hall of Fame located in Seneca Falls, New York, where she has been inducted.
If you’re interested in purchasing her quarter, you can do so by clicking here.