Race and Politics

Mary Edwards Walker had the bad luck to be born a century too early. Throughout her lifetime, she received severe criticism for practicing medicine and fighting to achieve equal rights for women, things we take for granted today.    

Born on November 26, 1832, on the family farm in Oswego, New York, Walker’s father Alvah, a freethinker and reformist, had a profound influence on her, particularly concerning the wearing of women’s clothing. Alvah believed that the restrictive women’s fashions of the day – petticoats, corsets, etc. - inhibited their movements and capabilities.