New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-02-23
DIR. Mary E. Walker.
Advocate of Dress
Reform, Dies at 81
Only Woman Authorized
by Special Act of Con-
gress to Wear Male Attire:
Pioneer in Many Lines

hlght after long illness. She was
surgeon in the Civil War and was
awarded Congressional Medal Of Hon
or. She gained considerable fame by be-
ing the only woman allowed to appear
in male attire by an act of Congress.
Dr. Walker was injured in fall on
the Capitol steps in Washington two
years ago and returned home last
spring considerably weakened.
She declined to accept the proffered
assistance of neighbors in caring for
her house, but later she yielded to the
suggestion of the town authorities that
she go to the United States General
Hospital at TT. Ontario, where she
remained for several weeks and was
apparently much improved in health
AT her request she was permitted to
leave the hospital and return home
She died in the house of a neighbor
who had been caring for her.
For the past two generations DR..
Mary Walker had been an outstanding
international character-a pioneer in
everything she did or advocated.
Throughout the world she was known
as the woman who wore the garb Of
man.
Was Prisoner of War
Like Florence Nightingale, she was
one of the noble band of women pio-
neers who set out to mitigate the hor-
rors of war. To her came the remark
able distinction of being the first wom-
an prisoner of war to be exchanged
for a man of similar rank.
throughout an active life she was
prominent in everything she under
took. She was one of the first women
to receive medical degrees and became
medical practitioner. She was the
first woman to receive an active con-
mission in any army and the first to
receive the Congressional Medal of
Honor for bravery.
Mary Elizabeth Walker was born in
Cswego, N. Y, November 26, 1882. the
daughter of Alvah and Vesta (Whi@
comb) Walker, descendants of the
Plymouth Pilgrims. Her ,stner was q
physician and teacher, her mother a
member of the family that gave James
Whtcomb Riley to the worll
At the age of twenty-three Mary
was graduated from the Syracuse
Medical College with the degree of M.
D. She opened practice in Columbus,
Ohio, but later moved to Rome, N. Y.
1t was shortly after beginning prac-
tice that she donned masculine attire
for the first time.
Enlisted as Surgeon
AT the outbreak of the Civil War
she enlisted in the Union army as an
assistant surgeon and received the
rank of first lieutenant. In uniform
she appeared just like her brother Of
ticers, with the exception that her
jacket was cut like blouse and fit
ted loosely around the neck.
when | had on my greatcoat,"
declared DR.. Walker, in discussing
her experiences, 81 looked every inch
the man, and | am sure / acted like
one"
Her proudest possession, which she
always wore on the left shoulder Of
her conventional frock coat, was the
bronze medal on which the following
Inscription was engraved: "Presented
by the Congress of the United States
to Mary Z. Walker, A. A Surgeon, u.
S. Army"
Early in life DR.. Walker was mar
ried to q DR.. Miller. The union proved
unhappy and was quickly severed by
the courts.
Shortly after the termination of the
Civil War DR.. Walker made the first
of her visits to Great Britain, and
delivered a number of lectures on the
rights of women, in which she was a
pioneer. 1t was her powerful influence
that set in motion and stimulated the
equal suffrage movement in the Brit
ish Isles--a movement that she lived to
see eliminate in success as a result
of the great war.
Two Suggestions Adopted
She it was who originated the post
card receipt for registered mail. She
also persuaded the postal authorities
to permit the sender Of mail to place
return address on the outside of
the envelope.
For a great many years DR.. Walker
resided on her estate, Bunker Hill,
near Oswego. There she founded
sanatorium for consumptives, and
conducted school for the prevention
of tuberculosis along original plans
of her own.
Although a strong and persistent adj
vocate of woman's suffrage, she was
always out of sympathy with the ex-
LTemo metHOuS duOpISu ny SOIlc VI Her
sisters.
"Women will get suffrage just as
soon as they stop making fools of
themselves" she declared recently.
"They've got to stop talking SO much
and do some work. These everlasting
amendments will never get them their
rights. They want to state what they
want and stick to it,"
Advocated Dress Reform
1t was her spectacular and remark
able dress. however, that made her ad-
vocacy of dress reform for women the
outstanding feature of her career. All
her arguments for change of dress
we're based on hygiene.
Before l was SIXTEEN" she said
while discussing her experiences, 81
saw the inequality of the sexes in the
matter of dress. l then decided that
at the first opportunity I would adopt
the most natural costume that suggest
ed itself.
"Whcn I finally adopted masculine
garb, few years later, the amount
Of advice and comment the matter
evoked was astonishing. My first suits
consisted of short skirts, with trousers
under them. The latter were visible
below the knees. 1t would seem a
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